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La,t. Capitol, 3&:.3,3,lSf. 

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f the CITY 

WnfoFv of Columbia, ) 

■r/ed hyfbe. Stahe.t of ^. — ^j,-^ 

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:"^nr-ir \\f /heir GOVMBNMENT, 
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0BSE]R1^TI0]S"S 
explanatory^ of the 

A* 1 HE licsittms fvr the Ji^rcnt £difices, imtil fm- tht 
several Sauatfs or. Jreas of diMrciit jhapes, as thcif an la 
dtnciij icere first detcniiined on tfie most advantnijrciis i/n 
rommatiduiii Ifu nwst rxtensnv Ij rasptcts, and die lielterst 
pfsHc/i iiiiurmeiiients, as eilfirr use or cniaiiient mail 
rnlljir 

-U.« -LjJNMjS or^lvemus of direct coiiimunicnfttui have 

to coiuirrt Hir sc/iarntr mid most distant oh/ecfs iiit/i /? 

and to ijirseive tlircnw/i tJic inJiole arecivicciii/ofsiifju 

I ilfenfirii /las iee/i?,/aid to tiie yjafsiiiy of those leiidiiin. H'e 

ini's/ /riicinlileijioiind^'iiJirsjert and ccnienience. 

II1.»<- ' yOJt'lM mid Smith fines intersected by others miin 
fffsl, iniike the JistrihMrii if the City into Streets, Sei 
lutes hiire t'een so ci'iiiljine-d us Ip meet eit certain tji, 
diirri)eiil..dreiiiies, so as tofcriii on Itie ^aces Jiist delich fto/.' 



of the Streets. 



le/i Streets as lead immediately to Jmhlic 
•idr, and mini he irmriiienlh/ divided 
mid n rnrriiif/e iraif- 



Scale of Pole, 



'Die rthtr Si reels 



Mr ELLICOfl' dim ei true Meridional 
■li die . h-ea iiifeiiilcd for the 

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tbcrdiic East and tiest, ii'hicLfMfks dnmif 
oceiii-alehj measured, and made (he hnsis on 
led He ran all ibc lines ly a fi-ansit Jusfru 
r.fm/rs h/ actual measumUenl , and le/t 

roni,,a/.i 



-^ 56 2 



56th Congress, 1 SENATE. /Document 

U Session. / I No. 94. 



PAPERS 



RELATING TO 



The Improyement of the City of Washington, 



DISTRICT OF COLUxVIBIA. 



Compiled by Glenn Brown, Secretary of the American Institute of Architects; 

with an introduction by Charles Moore, Clerk of Senate 

Committee on the District of Columbia. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
I 90 I . 






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OlJNKIlVATIONS 

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SJE.4T of thrir GOVKHNaMENT, 



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TB!!S^^SIS..™i!IMiUJ..i filial- i}ft. 



,t,m,. „r,r firs, ,l<hr„„nr.i ,.,. rt., ,«,^ mh^nt,,.'^,.., ,,,„„„/ ^ 

III.. VV;/f7>/ ,,.,^M h.r. ,«/...w,^ w*,.. ,„,.,,^.,,, ^^v,,, „ 

//«r,f /}„,, Ar.« .^ m«A,««/ ,„ A. ,„„f „f „,^^^ f" 







Scale ok Fol±:s. 



%xtiM) of the Streets. 

7 f/K fjmiiil ■ tiriiilf'i, <ii'<l ■'■ikIi -^lld-l-i n.i IkkI i imiiri/ifilcli/ t< j.)uhl\c 
ularf,K, riirjioni IM If l6'0 jerl ici<lr , and indijhc (rnvdiinilly rliviikd 
into h'inl ivai/x, valhx irf'tircvi/iiiil ti riiriimjr iroi/. '/he ether Slirrh 
air pom , QO tr llOJrrI nidf . 

IM ri-ekr fr rj-rrittr ihi.i v/riii ,JMr. MLLIW/f'l' (lira ji }nie Mnidumal 
line 1/u ff/cflial nhnmlion , which fiajk-f lltipiajh ihr.'lira iiifriiilid /or thf 
C<ff)ihl, tht.t line he rrofie^ hj aiwtlirr chic Ecl-il and hrxt, whirl jJti/se.i ihimtjk 
the name : ilea. These lines mere aeeitratehj mea.iiiml, niiil innde llic basis rn 
ubich Ihe whole f)laii was ejceinlexl. He ran all lite lines h,/ a Transii Instnt- 

nienl, anel (lelenniiieil the .4ntte . dnefle.i lit/ ac/iinl nira.mirmeiit. anrl k/t 

ntthiiiq to the aiirert/iinlij of' the Cniiifiaf^. 



S VtOcJA 56 2 



December 19, 1900. — Presented by Mr. McMillax and ordered 
to be printed. 



i^i 20 I90I 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Introduction, b}- Charles Moore 7 

Papers and discussion at the Thirty-fourth Annual Convention of 
the American Institute of Architects, December 13, 1900, 
Washington, D. C . : 

Extract from the address of the president of the institute. 

R. S. Peabody 1 1 

The grouping of Government buildings, landscape, and stat- 
uary in Washington City. Joseph C. Hornblower 13 

Landscape in connection with public buildings in Washing- 
ton. Frederick Law Olmsted, jr 22 

The grouping of public buildings in a great citv. C. Howard 
Walker 

The monumental grouping of Government buildings in Wash 

ington. Edgar V. Seeler 4S 

A suggestion for grouping Government buildings, landscape, 

monuments, and statuary. Glenn Brown 59 

Sculpture in Washington. H. K. Bush Brown 70 

Grouping buildings and development of Washington. Cass 

Gilbert " ^S 

Exposition architecture in its relations to the grouping of Gov- 
ernment buildings. George O. Totten, jr S3 

Grouping buildings in Washington. Paul J. Pelz 87 

3 



35 



LIST OF PLATES. 



Figure. 

View southeast from the Washington Monument i 

Building, landscape, and foliage 2 

Water with low banks and trees 3 

Picturesque building and surroundings 4 

An artificial pond in Roj-al Gardens, Kew 5 

Open parkway with buildings 6 

The British Foreign Oifice 7 

Lafayette square, Washington S 

Bad effect of extreme formality 9, 10 

The Capitol from Pennsj-lvania avenue entrance 11 

The south end of the Capitol terrace 12 

The Capitol from the Botanic Garden 13 

The Champs Eb'sees, Paris 14 

The Long Walk at Windsor 15 

The Tapis-vert at Versailles 16 

The W^hite House from the south 17 

The Executive Mansion from the Monument i S 

The White House from the north 19 

A vista of informal outline 20 

Pleasing vista of Capitol down Maryland avenue 21 

Vista of Executive Mansion, down Pennsylvania avenue, cut off by 

the Treasury building 22 

Bad effect of rear of building on park 23 

Vista of Executive Mansion destroyed by State Department 24 

Bad effect of Library- dome on the Capitol view from the west 25 

The unhappy effect of location of the Library across Pennsylvania 

avenue 26 

Garden of the Tuilleries and Champs Ely sees, Paris 27 

Pleasing view of Capitol dome 28 

Bad effect of location of Patent Office on street 29 

View of Capitol from the Monument, showing proposed line of 

boulevard 30 

View from Monument, west 31 

Suggested colonnade and plaza around the Monument 32 

Suggested railroad crossing 33 

Place du Carrousel, Paris 34 

5 



6 List of Plates. 

Figure. 

The Seine, Place de la Concorde, and Seine and Government build- 
ings, Paris 35 

La Place Vendome, Paris 36 

The Seine and Trocadero, Paris , 37 

Garden of the Palais Royal, Paris 38 

Park, castle, art galleries, Edinburgh 39 

Park, Edinburgh 40 

Fountains, Place de la Concorde 41 

Fountain, in Cologne 42 

Terrace, with extended view 43 

Fountain and parkwa}^ from the Luxembourg Palace, Paris 44 

Colonnade, Park Monceau, Paris 45 

Temple of Esculapius, Villa Borghese, Rome 46 

Fountain de Medicis, Luxembourg Garden, Paris 47 

Vista at Fontainebleau, France 48 

Fountain, Versailles, France 49 

Natural scenery, National Zoological Park 50-52 

Bowlder bridge, National Zoological Park 53 

Artificial culvert, National Zoological Park 54 

Log bridge. National Zoological Park 55 

Zebu house, National Zoological Park 56 

Vienna Exposition 57 

Plan of Paris Exposition 59 

Paris Exposition, 1889 71 



LIST OF AIAPS. 



First map engraved from L'Enfant's map. 
Suggestion of grouping, by E. V. Seeler. 
Present location of Government buildings. 
Suggestion of grouping by Glenn Brown. 

Cass Gilbert. 

George O. Totten. 

Paul J. Pelz. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the 
Removal of the Seat of Government to the District of 
Columbia, which took place in December, 1900, con- 
cerned itself not alone with recalling the achievements of the 
past, but also in looking forward to a future when the possibil- 
ities of the city George Washington planned should be realized 
in the creation of a capital beautiful beyond anj- now known. 
Senators and Congressmen, the Governors of States, and the 
President of the United States with one accord expressed the 
sentiment that after a century of material achievement the time 
had come to make Washington beautiful. Coincident with this 
official expression of opinion, the architects of the countr}^ in 
their organized capacit}' as the Institute of American Architects 
discussed the subject of how this great and widespread purpose 
should be brought about. The Report of the Centennial Cele- 
bration, now in press, will show the ideas of the lait}^; this 
publication contains the tentative plans of the experts. 

That the time has come for beautifying Washington none 
can doubt. Those necessary matters of civic economj^ which 
must precede adornment either have been completed, or at 
least provision for them has been made. An adequate supply 
of water, made healthful bj^ an elaborate system of filtration, 
has been provided for; a comprehensive sewer system is 
hastening toward completion; a plan of highways covering 
the entire District of Columbia has been laid out; the street 
railways, both local and suburban, have been developed into 
a most sightly and most convenient system; the question of 

7 



8 Introduction. 

the abolition of the steam railways grade crossings throughout 
the cit}'-, mooted for more than a decade, at last has been settled 
satisfactorily, and terminal stations to provide for the constantly 
increasing traffic are now authorized b}^ law. 

Nor does the list stop here. By purchase sixteen hundred 
acres of land along Rock Creek have been acquired and are 
now awaiting development as a park; the seven hundred acres 
reclaimed from the river and named Potomac Park are as yet 
undeveloped; the engineers have worked out a plan for the 
reclamation of the flats of the Anacostia River. Sanitarj- con- 
ditions urge that this work be done at an early da}-, and the 
result will be another large park. The water front of the city 
has recentl}^ passed into the control of the Government, and 
the wdiarves must be rebuilt, thus allowing a treatment in 
keeping with the general idea of beautifying the city. More- 
over, to meet its increasing wants, the Government is now on 
the point of constructing in Washington man}^ new buildings, 
and important memorials to the great soldiers of the more 
recent past are soon to be erected. So that within the near 
future large expenditures must be made to meet the varied 
wants and necessities of Government. 

As laid out by ly' Enfant and approved b}^ President Wash- 
ington, the original plan of the Federal Cit)' was so com- 
prehensive, so adequate, and so fine that could it be realized 
completely to-da}^, little would be left to be done besides adding 
adornments, and developing the outlying parks in conformit}- 
with those included within the boundaries of the original city. 
XJnfortunatel)^ however, the earh* plans have been modified, 
and the spaces allotted to the public have been encroached 
upon as the growth of the city seemed to demand the sacrifice 
of grounds too extensive to be improved in past days and gen- 
erations. So that the problem of to-day is one not alone of 
expansion, but also of recover5^ 

As was natural in a case where many minds approached a 
subject both from a variety of standpoints and also professedly 



bityoductio)i. 9 

without adequate stud}', the suggestions for improvements have 
been wideh' diverse; and for this reason the plans proposed 
express the desire that something adequate be done rather than 
anj' matured schemes for development. Recognizing this fact, 
the American Institute of Architects, at the same meeting at 
which the following papers were read, appointed a committee 
on legislation to urge upon Congress the creation of a profes- 
sional commission to take up the whole subject of the improve- 
ment of the National Capital. This committee (consisting of 
Messrs. William A. Boring, of New York; George F. Shepley, of 
Boston; George B. Post, of New York; W. S. Eames, of St. Louis; 
E. B. Green, of Buffalo; Frank Miles Da}^ of Philadelphia; and 
Glenn Brown, of Washington), after consultation with the Senate 
committee on the District of Columbia, agreed upon the following 
joint resolution, which was introduced in the Senate on Decem- 
ber 17, 1900, b}' Mr. McMillan, and was subsequently reported 
favorably' from the Committee on the District of Columbia: 

JOINT RESOLUTION to provide a commissiou to consider certain improvements 
in the District of Columbia. 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United 
States be, and he is herebj-, authorized to appoint a commission, to consist 
of two architects and one landscape architect eminent in their professions, 
who shall consider the subject of the location and grouping of public 
buildings and monuments to be erected in the District of Columbia and 
the development and improvement of the entire park system of said Dis- 
trict, and shall report to Congress thereon the first IMonday in December, 
nineteen hundred and one. 

That to carry out the provisions of this resolution the sum of ten thou- 
sand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money 
in the Treasury not otheru'ise appropriated, to be expended under the 
direction of the President. 

It was thought best, however, to handle the subject in a 
somewhat different manner; and on March S, 1901, at the spe- 
cial session of the Senate, Mr. McMillan reported from the 
District Committee a resolution directing that Committee to 



lo Introduction. 

report to the Senate a plan for the improvement of the entire 
park sj'stem of the District of Columbia. In the execution of 
this work the Committee was authorized to employ experts, the 
necessar}^ expense to be paid from the contingent fund of the 
Senate. The resolution having been adopted, a Subcommittee 
consisting of Senators McMillan, Gallinger, and Martin was 
named; and on March 19 this Subcommittee met Mr. Robert S. 
Peabody, president of the American Institute of iVrchitects, 
and the legislative committee of that body. After a discussion 
of the problem Mr. Boring, for the Institute Committee, rec- 
ommended that Mr. Daniel H. Burnham, of Chicago, formerly 
director of the World's Fair, and Mr. Frederick Law Olm- 
sted, jr., of Brookline, Massachusetts, be requested to prepare 
the contemplated plan, and that they have the power to select 
a third member to act with them. These recommendations 
having been adopted by the Subcommittee, Mr. Charles F. 
McKim, of New York City, was requested and consented to 
serve as the third member of the Commission. 

The Commission thus formed at once entered upon its duties, 
and is now actively engaged on the work. 

CHARLES MOORE. 

Senate Committee on the 

District of Coi^umbia, 

April 2^, ipoi. 



F'j^ p e: Rs 



RELATING TO THE 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, I). C, 

THE \EED OF ARTISTIC TREATMENT OF GOVERNMENT 
WORK IX WASHINGTON'. 



EXTRACTS FROM AN ADDRESS BY ROBERT S. PEABODY, PRESIDENT 
OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS. 



AS a national institution, the first dnt}' of the Institute 
of American Architects is to our country. We all 
L wish to help to our utmost those in authority in their 
endeavors to make our Government architecture more worthy 
of the greatness and intelligence of the Republic. In the 
city of Washington the whole countr)- has an admirable object 
lesson. No cit}- is more full of architectural warnings. None 
better exemplifies in its buildings what is and what is not 
architecture. One does not need a professional education to 
feel mortified at the sight of certain buildings that have been 
thrust upon these beautiful highway's in comparatively recent 
times, though what architecture is and of what it is capable is 
thrown in the face of the most stolid citizen whenever his e5-e 
is turned beyond the crowded avenue to the green park and the 
long lines of the marble Capitol, and to the great white dome 
rising grand and noble above them into the morning mists. 

As we feel all this ver}- deeply, we have reckoned it a great 
privilege that the National Government has of late years con- 
sulted with our officers and members regarding work in charge 
of the Treasury and several other Departments. On these 
occasions, and at all other times, we have advocated in an 
tmselfish manner all measures that might lead to added dignity 

II 



12 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

in our permanent Government buildings and greater stateliness 
throughout our National Capital. If great Government build- 
ings are to be scattered about the country, if a boulevard is to 
traverse the National Capital, if the future buildings for the 
Government are to be effectiveh' placed in this beautiful cit}^, 
if the White House, in which we all take such pleasure and 
pride, needs to be increased in size, we want each and all of 
these works carried out \yy the best artistic skill that the countrj- 
can produce, and by nothing less efficient. Nor are we alone in 
this wish. So far as I have observed, the public aspires to even 
better things than our best talent produces. They want the 
verj^ best. Now that architecture is a matter of active interest 
to great numbers of people in all parts of the country, it ought 
to be possible to bring to life again the admirable artistic spirit 
which one hundred years ago planned the city of Washington 
and built its earlier and best monuments. 



THE GROUPING OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, LAND- 
SCAPE, AND STATUARY IN WASHINGTON CITY. 



By Joseph C. Hornblower, F. A. I. A. 



A HAPPIER title for our discussion might have been 
"The distribution and grouping of the government 
and other pubHc buildings, etc., etc." 

I open this discussion with a feeling that a long residence iu 
the Capital cit}^ makes one aware of certain needs that may not 
be quite apparent to Members from a distance. I, however, 
appreciate the advantage of the long-range point of view, and I 
want especially to emphasize the fact that we are considering 
the capital of a great nation, and not the local requirements of 
an ordinary city. 

The fact that the first of our biennial conventions in Wash- 
ington coincides with the centennial date is interesting, although 
quite unintentional. Enough has elsewhere been said to bring 
out the political and historical significance of the daj^, and it 
seems appropriate that we should look at another phase of the 
story. 

On a certain day in April, 1796, a horseman left the Fountain 
Tavern, in Georgetown. He speaks of entering — 

A large wood through which a very imperfect road had been made, 
principally by removing trees, or rather the upper parts of them, in the 
usual manner. After some time this indistinct waj' assumed more the 
appearance of a regular avenue, the trees here having been cut down in a 
straight line. Although no habitation of any kind was visible, I had no 
doubt but I was now riding along one of the streets of the metropolitan 
cit3^ I continued in this spacious avenue for half a mile, and then came 
out upon a large spot, cleared of wood, in the center of which I saw two 
buildings on an extensive scale and some men at work upon one of them. 

13 



14 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

This, from the pen of an Enghshman, Thomas Twining, is 
one of the earhest descriptions of Penns3'lvania avenue, and of 
the site of our chief building. He saj's, later: 

Ivooking over from where I now stood I saw on ever}^ side a thick wood 
pierced with avenues in a more or less perfect state. These denoted the 
lines of the intended streets which before appeared in the engraved plan 
with their future names. The Capitol promised to be a large and hand- 
some building. 

It is frequently stated that the plan of the cit}^ of Washing- 
ton is French, meaning of Paris, in its scheme, because of the 
arrangement of avenues radiating from important buildings and 
other points. This is erroneous. The radiating avenues found 
in Paris are much inferior in importance to those in Washington 
and the}'- radiate from two points only — the Place de I'E^toile and 
the Place de la Bastille. A comparison of dates precludes the 
possibility of a reference to this feature of Paris. The Bastille 
itself was a grim donjon up to 1789; the Place was not formed 
until many years later. The great arch was begun \yy Napoleon 
in 1806, but it was not until the da}^ of his successor. Napoleon 
III, that the radiating avenues were formed and that the site of 
the arch became the Place de I'lvtoile. The avenues radiating 
therefrom are part of the work of Baron Haussmann. W^e maj" 
fairl}^ claim priorit}^ in the matter.' 

This city, as we find it, is a monument to the wisdom of Wash- 
ington and the greatness and broadness of the minds that 
planned it. Still, could Washington speak to-daj', would he 
not advise the restudy of the plan in view of changed condi- 
tions? Had he not in mind not ovXy a capital, but a great com- 
mercial center, the commerce that of water, and the highwa3'S 

^Mr. William A. Boring, of New York, writes to me in reference to 
opening the avenues at the Place de I'Etoile in Paris: 

' ' I wish to state that I have looked this matter tip, and find that the 
avenues for that work were laid out by Baron Haussmanui and that the 
first movement toward the opening of the streets in Paris was taken up in 
the nineteenth century during the time of Napoleon I. The work was 
more vigorously pushed by Louis Phillipe and Napoleon III. 

" So far as I can find out from the plans and histor}- of this subject, the 
plan of L'Enfant for Washington antedated any similar plan which w-as 
executed or published in regard to the city of Paris. It seems evident 
that in preparing the plans L,' Enfant really had in mind a system similar 
to that of the park at Versailles and the ideas then prevalent in the French 
school of landscape architecture. That the cit}' of Washington is an 
entirely original conception and the first of its kind, appears to me 
perfectly evident." 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 15 

the great river and canals leading to Western waters beyond 
the mountains? The river front in his plan had an importance 
which it has never attained, owing to the advent of steam as a 
mode of locomotion. Had he foreseen the present conditions, 
without doubt a great railroad terminus would have been one of 
the features of his plan, and avenues radiating from such a ter- 
minus to shorten the lines of travel. Wherever this great station 
is to be, that feature of Washington's original plan will have to 
be adopted. If the station is at the junction of Sixth street and 
Pennsjdvania avenue, there is no question that avenues must be 
opened leading directh' to the northwest and northeast, and the 
day is not far distant when the population will demand the open- 
ing of such avenues. To push it backward and south from 
Pennsylvania avenue to a more distant point as regards the 
center of population, is simply to leave the question unsolved. 

Paris has to-day brought a railroad to the center of the city, 
has built a great station opposite the garden of the Tuilleries, 
and has made the station one of the important monuments of 
the year. 

The various plans that have been recently prepared in refer- 
ence to the improvement of the IMall, and other parts of our 
cit3',^are, in a way, fragmentary, and although each ma}' have 
merit, the propriet}" of adopting any one of them may be ques- 
tioned until a more comprehensive study has been made of 
the whole matter of arrangement of parks and disposition of 
buildings. 

The grouping and distribution of buildings should be stud- 
ied not alone with reference to the production of an impressive 
architectural effect, nor as an exposition problem, but primarih' 
with reference to the conduct of Government business. It 
seems self-evident in a district set apart for Government use 
that all private interests should be subordinate, and in a nation 
of the importance of ours it seems short-sighted not to place 
the various public buildings upon the most appropriate sites, 
with reference to no other consideration. The buildings for 
the great Departments, the heads of which are Cabinet officers, 
must necessarily be grouped near the house of the President 
to facilitate the transaction of business between Departments 
and between the Departments and the President's office. A 
plan that takes this matter into consideration in a limited way 
is that of Mr. James Knox Taylor, supervising architect. 

For the first time in our histor}' it is proposed to plant a great 



i6 Improvemejit of the City of Washington. 

department building, the Department of Justice, upon a corner 
hemmed in by buildings erected for purely commercial ends. 
As long as such a condition exists the Capital cit}' will be incom- 
plete. It can not be permanent, and the sooner the fact is 
recognized, the greater the economy. The proposition to plant 

buildings upon either side of the Mall because they were tenta- 
tivelj' so shown upon ly'Enfant's plan may be wise or may not 
be, but before they are so placed the question should be fully 
considered, and I may here remark that some years ago Gen. 
M. V. C. Woodhull, a citizen of this city, proposed the creation 
of a uonofficial board, to serve without compensation, with full 
powers to gather all necessary information and to determine, so 
far as possible, the question of sites for future buildings. No 
proposition could be more prudent, and its adoption at this day 
would be in the interests of true econom3^' 

■ The advantages to be gained by a proper and well-studied 
sj^stem of grouping have been illustrated, not only at our great 
exhibitions, but in a more permanent way in certain of our 
university towns of recent j^e^rs. 

Under our peculiar form of municipal government the condi- 
tions are in many respects entirely different from those that 
prevail elsewhere throughout the country. Our streets ^rom 
building line to building line are not the common property of 

' I add a letter from General Woodhull relating to the commission pro- 
posed by him: 

Washington, December io, igoo. 

My Dear Hornbi^ower: At your request I have hunted up the inclosed 
letter which I wrote, and which was published in one of the papers in 
1892, upon the necessity of organizing a nonofficial and nonsalaried com- 
mission for the consideration of the needs of the National Government, 
present and prospective, say for the next hundred 3'ears, in respect to 
public buildings in Washington. 

Had these suggestions been adopted the present utterly stupid plan of 
locating public buildings on fragments of lots which might happen to be 
owned by the Government, or upon land which persistent real-estate 
owners and brokers should endeavor to sell to the Government in default 
of private purchasers, would have been abandoned; and the coordination 
of the great offices and buildings of state upon some general plan, and in 
intimate relationship to the Executive Mansion, as the natural adminis- 
trative center of the National Government, and consequently the natural 
center of any great group of Government buildings, would have become 
the settled policy of the Government. 

I favor to-day, as I favored then, the creation of a thoroughly national 
nonsalaried and nonofficial commission, to be appointed by the President, 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 17 

the inhabitants, but are owned exckisivelj' by the United States. 
Encroachments have been made upon these streets from time to 
time, chiefly through greed, until Congress has seen fit to 
authorize the building of certain projections, limited only by the 
judgment of a board of officials. New encroachments promptly 
become precedents, and our streets have practicall}^ been nar- 
rowed by a width, so far as the angle of vision is concerned, of 
ten feet from that planned by Washington. These encroach- 
ments are greater than are deemed wise or prudent by the local 
bod}^ of architects, but the influence of this body is frequently 
counteracted by fellow architects from other cities, who, not 
understanding or not sympathizing with our conditions, urge 
such encroachments. 

Another mode of encroachment is illustrated at the intersec- 
tion of two of the most important streets of the city, Sixteenth 
and K streets. At this intersection, which upon the original 
map had an octagonal form, and which would have given sites 
for a unique arrangement of buildings, upon the northern axis 
of the White House, an enterprising speculator saw fit to benefit 
his pocket by a subdivision of one corner, which made the last 
lot of little value unless a certain triangle of street surface were 
added to it, and in order to accomplish this he succeeded in 

to study the present and prospective needs of the Government for public 
buildings in Washington, and to recommend not only a general policy in 
respect to the construction of such buildings, but also to select and desig- 
nate the blocks of land to be pm'chased by the Government for dedication 
to such iise, having regard to the demands of the Government for the next 
hundred years. 

In dealing with such a large question, I am utterly opposed to the 
appointment of a commission composed of officials, and equalh'- I am 
opposed to the idea of a money compensation for services rendered by 
such a commission. Nor should anyone be appointed a member of the 
commission having a pecuniary interest in any land likely to be con- 
sidered for purchase by the Government. The honor of serving upon 
such a commission will more than amply compensate the kind of person 
who would, under such circumnstances, be selected by the President to 
serve upon such a commission. 

The President, under this plan, could appoint as members of the com- 
mission leading citizens of the country, whose determination should 
command the respect of the Congress and the people. 
Believe me, sincerely, yours, 

:Maxweli- Van Zaxdt Woodhull, 

J. C. HORXBLOWER, Esq., 

Washington, D. C. 
S. Doc. 94 2 



i8 hnprovevicnt of the City of WasJiington. 

carrying through the Congress of the United States an act to 
condemn and sell said triangle and the other three triangles, 
ostensibly for the benefit of the public-school fund. Upon three 
of the corners buildings have been erected by architects from a 
distance, who were probabh^ not aware of the opportunity lost 
to them. 

To prevent similar outrages a more permanent scheme of 
•■streets and avenues and sites for municipal adornments is of the 
utmost importance. 

The members of this convention maj- not be familiar with the 
manner in which statues are placed in our city. They are usu- 
ally, in part at least, the gift of some association or group of 
citizens. The Government as a rule offers a site and builds the 
foundation and pedestal. The site is chosen b}" a committee, 
and the committee is composed, in part at least, of members of 
the association or group of citizens whose gift the statue or 
monument maj' be. The whole District is laid before this com- 
mittee and it is invited to choose, which it usuallj- does, with 
reference to nothing that has gone before or may come after, 
selecting as a rule what it considers the most beautiful unappro- 
priated park or circle. If the park have a fountain the fountain 
must go. 

The question of scale with surroundings is not considered, 
and we find equestrian and other statues in close proximity, 
clashing, simply from a want of consideration. It seems per- 
fectl}^ evident that the sites for these various memorials should 
be fixed b}- some comprehensive plan, made at once, so that as 
the city acquires each new statue it ma}' drop into its appro- 
priate place with due regard to background, surroundings, and 
scale. 

I may add that the question of site is not considered until 
after the completion of the statue, and consequently sculptors 
are not aware of the surroundings for which they must prepare, 
nor are they consulted in the selection of the site. A striking 
illustration of the unfortunate effect of this method is to be 
observed at Scott circle. 

Our most important street architecturally must be Pennsyl- 
vania avenue; the great thoroughfare from the White House 
to the Capitol. It is a street known from Maine to California; 
a thoroughfare for the triumphal processions that occur each 
fourth year, when the citizens of the city, with great sacrifice 



Improvcvicnt of the City of ]]\ishington. 19 

and public spirit, endeavor to decorate and make interesting 
one of the most unattractive of streets. This street is of such a 
nature that the opposite sides ha\-e no interest in common, and 
are separated as by a river. To condemn the whole occupied 
land upon the .south and form a great park would be one remedy; 
to plant upon this south side important buildings would be 
another. The question then arises as to what can be done to 
give dignit}^ to the north side. This is a matter that has been 
tentativel)- considered at times of great festivals, and that some 
da}' must be worked out. 

The open spaces at the junctions of the avenue and streets are 
of value as sites for sculpture, refuges with statues, fountains, 
etc., and we have already in the citj' a sufficient number of 
important statues which, if dragged from their sylvan retreats 
and placed upon these unoccupied spaces, would do much to 
make one of the most interesting of avenues. 

The design of our early buildings was carefully considered, 
and it is wonderful that they were so far in advance of the 
material needs of the day. In general scheme they have not 
been excelled by an}- of the later buildings. There has been from 
the early days, until recently, a deterioration in the character 
and design of the various buildings that have been planted in 
Washington, and the absence of respect for the early forms has 
been apparent. Probably the choice of an architect for each of 
the buildings will not be left so much in the future to chance as 
it has been in the intermediate daj-s. We have enough examples 
of buildings which evidently have given opportunity to amateurs 
to carry out pet hobbies at the expense of the public. 

In addition to the Capitol and President's house, as repre- 
senting the legislative and executive centers, provision must be 
made for the other coordinate branch of Government, namely, 
the judiciary, and it is proper that a building appropriate to the 
use of the judiciary should be of a dignified character, ample in 
dimensions, and its situation is one that also should be fixed 
with reference to the convenience of the bar and the body of 
judges. This building should be entirely independent of the 
Department of Justice, which is an Executive Department, and 
the question as to how many of the courts should be housed in 
this central building is one for consideration by the members of 
the judiciary. Then we mu.st have other buildings whose con- 
nection with the executive, legislative, and judicial centers is 



20 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

not close. They ma}- be properl}^ situated at a distance from 
any one of the three centers, and their sites must be chosen with 
reference chiefly to convenience of population. Many of these 
buildings can properh' be placed upon Penns^dvania avenue, 
of equal accessibility to the legislative and executive centers. 
A great museum would find upon such an avenue a site that 
would make its collections accessible to thousands; surveys and 
other scientific bureaus would be doubly useful if near the 
Capitol and Librar5^ 

It is becoming the custom for foreign governments to buy 
property and own their official homes in this city. As a rule 
the}^ have bought old houses that have been offered to them bj^ 
enterprising dealers. The British Government alone has built 
from the foundations. The British building was designed in 
this countr}' and it can not be said to be typical of American 
architecture of its period; nor does it in any wa}' suggest an 
English building. It would add greatly to the interest of the 
city if each of the foreign governments wou;d acquire vacant 
ground and build from the designs of its own architects. We 
might then have typical buildings of English, German, Korean, 
Japanese, and Austrian design. AVe can easily imagine how 
interesting would be a building of the Japanese designed by 
their own architects and adapted to our climate and conditions, 
and we know that an English building by Scott, Norman Shaw, 
or Waterhouse would be an ornament and a most valuable addi- 
tion to the architectural attractions of our city. We trust 
that the French nation will be more fortunate in escaping the 
diplomatic blandishments of the real-estate dealer and in the 
near future will give us a Parisian hotel or palais. 

This question of grouping or distribution of buildings and 
statuary, when fixed, ought not to end the preliminary considera- 
tion. A point quite as pressing, but one which perhaps can not 
be fixed by such a board as has been suggested, is the question 
of scale, and here I .speak to members of the Institute. 

As architects we know the value of this. A certain relation 
in treatment which will not bar individuality, but which will 
prevent each new building from clashing with its predecessor, 
is of great importance. The beauty, harmony, and repose of 
the Court of Honor, at Chicago, was due primarily to the adop- 
tion of a certain module, or scale, to which all of its buildings 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 21 

strictly adhered, and yet each had its individuality. The result 
was a picture we can never forget. 

We have before us the Capitol and the President's house: Two 
buildings refined and noble in their lines, and, without arbitrary 
ruling, it is quite possible to hold these buildings as the governing 
features in the design for future structures. If so held, no build- 
ing would rise that would clash with our dominating edifice, and 
b}' adhering to this rule we would finally have a group of build- 
ings in this city that would go far toward making it of archi- 
tectural interest commensurate with our greatness. 

This point of scale I want parti cularl)" to impress upon the 
members of our convention, not doubting that its importance 
will be appreciated. The plan of the city as originally projected 
has been sufficient for the requirements of the first centurj'. 
Now, at the end of the first centur}^ it is proper to consider full}' 
and studiously the requirements of the second. 



LANDSCAPE IN CONNECTION WITH PUBLIC BUILDINGS 
IN WASHINGTON. 



By Frederick Law Olmsted, jr., Landscape Architect. 



THE word landscape is used in so indefinite a way that 
when the Secretary asked me to write a paper on 
' ' Landscape in relation to public buildings in Wash- 
ington " I wa§ at a loss to know just what was expected of me; 
and as many others are, perhaps, as much in the dark, it will 
not be amiss to begin by explaining what I have assumed the 
title to mean. 

In its widest sense, "landscape" is the appearance of what 
one sees in looking abroad upon the land, a meaning modified 
in application by certain restrictions; as that the point of view 
shall be normal, not from a high balloon or the summit of the 
monument, for instance (fig. i); that the view shall have some 
degree of extent — not such, for instance, as within a courtyard, 
or against the face of a near cliff, or even in a dense thicket. 
Clearl}-, buildings, when not placed cheek by jowl along a con- 
fined cit}' street, ma}^ well be considered in relation to landscape 
in this broad sense, for they may form important features in such 
landscape (fig. 2); and unless those who are interested in the 
buildings wear mental blinders that permit them to see nothing 
else, they are likely to be much concerned with other elements 
of the landscape at the same time. 

From the fact, perhaps, that by far the greatest number of 
enjoyable landscapes, especially those having to a marked degree 
the important characteristic of extent, are to be found in the open 
country, where buildings play but a minor role and the group- 
ing of the elementsis mainly or wholly fortuitous (fig. 3) , " land- 
scape ' ' came to be used to indicate any arrangement of land con- 
sciously designed to secure a pleasing effect, without obvious 



4S 



:^ 



InipTOvenient of the City of WasJihigton. 23 

order or definite form and more or less in simulation of what is 
called a natural landscape. When such informal arrangements 
of land with a conscious aesthetic purpose first became common 
nearh' two centuries ago, it was natural to designate them by 
this word, for the work was generally on a large scale and the 
results were, properly speaking, landscapes; but as very small 
areas could be treated with the same absence of obvious design 
and definiteness of form, the word came to be used to designate 
these also (fig. 4), and the curiously contradictory term, landscape 
garden, came into existence. It is contradictory because the 
primary idea of a garden is that of seclusion, privacy, and in- 
closure, while one of the important elements of landscape is a 
sense of extent. Contradictory or not, the term did come into 
use, together with landscape gardening and landscape gardener, 
to designate the art or style of arranging land in an informal 
manner with a conscious aesthetic purpose. 

"Landscape," then, is often used in this special, limited, and 
technical sense as descriptive of a more or less positive style in 
the arrangement of land for use and enjoyment, in which there 
is an apparent lack of recognizable order, an avoidance of definite, 
geometrical forms, and a suggestion of fortuitousness, both in- 
the general composition and in the detail; none of which are 
incompatible with the utmost beauty of result, whether the seem- 
ing fortuitousness is accepted as genuine or is understood to be 
the result of design. (Fig. 5. ) There is, however, less likelihood 
of misconception, if, when this stjde is meant, the term informal 
is used as opposed to formal. 

Although the question of the applicability of the informal 
style to the grouping of buildings and the treatment of their 
surroundings (fig. 6) is an exceedingly interesting topic of dis- 
cussion, I have not understood that in assigning the subject of 
my paper the secretary had in mind this specialized use of the 
word, but rather a technical application of the more general 
meaning, calling for a discussion of the location of public build- 
ings and the arrangement of land about them, whether in a 
formal or an informal fashion. 

The value of considerable space about important buildings, 
regardless of how the space may be treated, is often underesti- 
mated, not only by laymen, but by architects. Accustomed to 
build under the conditions prescribed in populous cities, they 
sometimes become blunted to the need of room. Against the 



24 Improvement of the City of Washington, 

agreeable effect of the liberal spacing of buildings must alwaj^s 
be weighed the advantages in point of convenience of a compact 
plan, but under ordinar}- conditions compactness has altogether 
undue weight, because its value can more readil}' and positivel}^ 
be reduced to dollars and cents. Where land comes to have a 
considerable value per square foot, every foot not devoted to 
building offers a direct positive protest against the sacrifice of 
area, whereas the increased value due to the more agreeable and 
attractive character of a liberall}' spaced plan is only indirectly 
connected with its real cause, and is not infrequently attributed 
to others. I speak of the commercial value of liberal spacing, 
because its ver}' obscurit}' has led to its being ignored in practice, 
and people have thus become accustomed to doing without it. 
The result has come about in just the same way that people in 
man}' parts of this country', habituated to the wooden dwellings 
originalh' prescribed b}- reasons of economy, have acquired a 
prejudice against brick and stone. 

It is a commonplace to sa}' that in our cities architectural 
effect is concentrated upon facades that can never be seen to the 
best advantage on account of the narrowness of the streets. 
In Washington the street plan is so much more liberal than in 
most of our cities that houses of ordinary dimensions reall_v 
have a chance, and this is one of the reasons why it is a pleas- 
ant er dwelling place than most other cities in the countrj-. 
Another illustration of this same thing is in the pleasing effect 
•of certain curving streets of less width, which present the more 
distant buildings at a far more agreeable angle than is possible 
with the raking perspective of a straight and narrow way. The 
curving High street of Oxford, famous for its beaut}', owes a 
great deal of its charm to this quality — a qualit}' to be obtained 
onl}' at the sacrifice of the dignity and impressiveness of a long 
perspective, and emphasizing more the effect of individual 
structures than that of the street as a whole. 

The value of space about buildings lies not merely in securing 
good view points for the facades — an end that could be met and 
has been largely met in Washington by providing broad streets 
and wide setbacks — but also in giving comfortable space between 
buildings. Here, again, we are ,so accustomed to structures of 
discordant styles sandwiched along our streets and putting each 
other out of countenance that we are hardened to the evil, and 
it is onh' when we see several adjacent edifices harmonizing 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 25 

agreeably that Ave are struck by the unwonted pleasure. I am 
no advocate of a monotonous uniformity in treatment for the 
sake of avoiding these discords, but if a reasonable distance is 
left between buildings there is plenty of scope for the develop- 
ment of individual character before reaching such divergence 
of styles as will clash across the space. It has never been 
possible in the past to maintain in our Government buildings a 
strict adherence to any one style, and it is difficult to believe 
that human nature will be so altered in the committees and 
architects of the future as to prevent occasional departures at 
the call of whim or fashion from any programme that may be 
laid down. If these variations are not to be offensive in aspect, 
it is of the utmost importance that liberal space should be 
assigned to the buildings, and if these are to have any mutual 
relations and to support a general effect, the space should be 
treated as a .space with foliage arranged to carrj^ the ej^e pleas- 
antly and restfuUy from one structure to the next. Moreover, 
as buildings grow in size and importance, in like measure 
increases the need of room about them in order to maintain a 
consistent and dignified effect. 

Perhaps I have been emphasizing points that would be ac- 
cepted by almost everj^bod)^ at least in theorj^, but Avhen it comes 
to the actual treatment of the land about great public buildings 
there is certainh- much divergence in ideas. Not a little rather 
acrimonious discussion has taken place upon the value of infor- 
mal and formal treatment in this as in other connections, much of 
which has fallen wide of the mark through a failure to determine 
and keep clearly in view the fundamental purposes to be served 
in each instance. The primarj' purpose in this case is to provide 
convenient and agreeable means for the transaction of public 
business, and the incidental purpose is to give pleasure to way- 
farers not engaged in such transaction. The business is done 
almost wholh' in the buildings, and they are clearh' of primary im- 
portance and should dominate the design as a whole. (Fig. 7.) 
Great public edifices must be stronglj^ formal, whether they are 
perfectly s^-mmetrical or not, and this formal quality ought to 
be recognized in the plan of their surroundings if the total 
effect is to be consistent. But assuming the adoption of formal 
design, there are certain limitations upon its application. There 
is an upper limit in point of scale and extent beyond which 
symmetry is simply wasted. When the area treated becomes so 



\ 



26 Improveme]it of the City of Washington. 

large or so complicated that the symmetry is unrecognizable it is 
folly to strain after it. There is a marked symmetry in many large 
parts of the plan of the city of Washington, as, for instance, about 
the axis of the White House along Sixteenth street, but Thomas 
Circle, on the right, is not repeated at the corresponding point 
on the left. Yet it is doubtful if an^'one in examining the 
ground would ever perceive how far the symnietr}- is actually 
carried, much less observe this departure from it. On a much 
smaller scale at Lafayette Square the treatment with trees and 
shrubs is so complicated and intricate and the onl}' point of view 
so near the level of the ground that the symmetry of the plan 
is hardly preceptible. (Fig. 8. ) It certainly gives some mental 
satisfaction to those who discover it, but that has nothing to do 
with the direct visual beauty of the design. In such cases sj^m- 
metry may do no harm; but it does little good, and it may at any 
time lead to needless expense or to the monotony of ineffective 
repetition. 

On the other hand, symmetry and definiteness of geometrical 
form may be carried into extreme detail wnth very unfortunate 
effect. (Fig. 9.) It is impossible to find a complete illustration in 
actual fact, but suppose that in a strong formal design of good gen- 
eral plan not only is each path, step, tree, bush, and bed repeated 
in perfect symmetry of outline, but each detail is so repeated and 
has a similarly precise outline; and suppose, because branches 
and twigs can not be induced to grow in one precise pattern, and 
flowers to put forth only at predetermined points on each herb, 
that all the twigs are at least cut off at predetermined points and 
only such herbs are used as will retain their form unchanged 
instead of flowering promiscuously on unforeseen sprays; in such a 
case there will be, to say the least, great danger of hardness, mo- 
notony, and wearisomeness. (Fig. 10.) Of course the precise 
point of detail beyond which an •agreeable formality would pass 
into hardness and monotony is partly a question of personal judg- 
ment, but it is by no means wholly a question of personal judg- 
ment; it is a question of scale, on which I believe there would 
be as to any completed work a surprisingly small difference of 
opinion between men who have thought carefully upon such 
subjects. Where the scale of the general scheme is large, there 
should be a corresponding simplicit}-, and the formality need 
not be and should not be pushed so far into detail as in the case 
of projects of smaller scale. Consistently bearing in mind the 



2^ 



/^ 



J 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 29 

Railroad. Somewhere to the left, as though spurning any 
relationship with the Government of to-day, is the noble shaft 
of the Washington Monument. 

That this should have been placed without regard to designed 
relationship of effect between it and anything else in the city is 
almost incredible; but to have placed it on axis with the Capi- 
tol, as called for by the original plans, would have involved, 
forsooth, some additional cost in foundations and grading, so it 
was set down on the top of a little gravel hill, wherever it hap- 
pened to come.' It is, perhaps, fair, however, to offer a word 
of criticism here upon Iv' Enfant 's plans. It is apparent that 
he realized the fundamental importance in his scheme of the 
point of intersection of the main axes of the Capitol and of the 
White House, and he indicated it as the site for the monument 
to Washington; but it is probable that a more prolonged and 
detailed study of the topography would have suggested some 
modification by which this important intersection might have 
been shifted to ground more favorable to the erection of a great 
monument than the low if not marshy spot in which it actually 

came. 

When I speak of the importance of treating the Mall in such, 
a way as to relate strongly and visibly to the Capitol, I do not 
mean merely, or necessarily, that a straight road should be 
slashed down the middle of it. In fact, this would be reducing 
its treatment to that of the minor diagonal vistas, such as Penn- 
sylvania avenue, instead of giving it a broader and more impor- 
tant aspect. As for a broader avenue of the same style, anyone 
who has walked across it in summer will admit that Pennsylvania 
avenue suffices. A different and more agreeable treatment would 
be a sort of compound "boulevard," marked by several parallel 
rows of trees, with several pavements and turf strips. Such an 
avenue is that of the Champs Elysees. (Fig. 14.) It is better than 
Pennsylvania avenue by the more systematic use of trees and by 
the greater breadth of the tree spaces; but its effect is really not 
very different in kind. The suggestion of quite another sort of 
treatment is given by the long walk at Windsor Castle, with its 
expanse of open turf instead of pavement. (Fig. 15. ) One does 
not realize the magnificent scale of this perspective until the large 
size of the trees is made out from the figures beneath them. From 
this and from the Tapis Vert at Versailles (fig. 16), both vistas- 

' This is a supposition. The motives are not positively known. 



30 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

treated with a simplicity and largeness of scale almost too grand 
for the buildings on which they are dependent, we ma}^ form a 
fair conception of a logical and consistent design for the Mall. 
On L' Enfant 's plan is the faint indication of some formal treat 
ment of the axis, and in the attached description he states brief! 5^ 
that it is to be a grand avenue 400 feet in breadth, bordered with 
wath gardens, ending in a slope from the houses on each side. 
No one will suppose that he meant a roadwa}- 400 feet wide, 
but, on the contrary, something recalling the Tapis Vert at 
Versailles, but on a grander scale. The axis of the Capitol 
should neither be ignored by the use of a wiggling road and 
confused informal planting, nor should it be marked by a mere 
commonplace boulevard, but b}' an impressively broad and 
simple space of turf, with strong flanking masses of foliage and 
architecture and shaded driveways. 

Fortunately, the main axis of the White House has been 
treated somewhat in this manner on the south, although the 
central void varies too much in width and the planting is in 
places not quite formal enough to emphasize the design. (Fig. 
17.) The White Lot, as it is called, may seem to some too big 
and simple and flat, but when the trees have attained to thrice 
their present size, and when the relation of the area to the 
White House is made more obvious by a little widening of the 
throat where it joins the Executive Grounds, anyone will recog- 
nize the great dignity of the arrangement. The circular form 
of the White Lot is not as well fitted to carrj^ through the feei- 
ng of an axis as a more extended form (fig. 18), but that is no 
reason for dropping to the banalitj' of a mere street or to the 
smallness of treatment which marks the extension of the White 
House axis on the immediate north. (Fig. 19.) 

To return to the Mall, the original plan set it apart not only 
to emphasize in a magnificent manner the axis of the Capitol 
and to bring it into strong though indirect relation with the 
Executive mansion, but as an open space to provide agreeable 
frontage for public buildings of minor importance. Not only 
would the Mall provide these buildings with the space needed 
to give them a good setting, but they would in turn strengthen 
its character, and while giving oneanother sufficient architec- 
tural support, would be brought into their proper places in the 
scheme of which the Capitol is the head. 

We must recognize, in considering how to carrj' out the 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 31 

motives which led to the location of the Mall, that it is no longer 
a physical unit, but is divided b}- the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
Supposing the level of the railroad to remain unchanged, since 
any considerable lowering is made impossible b)' the floods, the 
surface of an}' vista, whether road or lawn, can not sweep over it 
uninterrupted. To bridge the railroad and to make a plan that 
recognizes no interruption is to hide one's head in the sand. 
The rise to the bridge and the fall bej'ond it would inevitalily 
make an interruption in the vista, and if disregarded in the plan 
would make the weakest and most disconcerting kind of inter- 
ruption. If the railroad must be so crossed, the necessary break 
in the profile should be recognized franklj- and treated as the 
terminus of one unit of the plan. The roads might here be 
drawn together, rising from the sides to meet at the bridge head 
upon a bold terrace, whence there would be an elevated view 
over the great greensward to the Capitol. It is by such frank 
acceptance of the physical conditions that the foundation of a 
good design must be laid, its realization depen'ding upon a skillful 
and studied adjustment to these conditions. 

Beyond the bridge the roads might separate again, and 
certainly in the section near the Smithsonian Institute great 
ingenuit}' and judgment ought to be exercised in order to retain 
all that maj- be retained of the good elements in the landscape 
and yet bring it into direct and unmistakable relation with the 
general plan. Parts of the Smithsonian grounds are notable for 
giving evidence of design and composition. The design is quite 
informal, but it is none the less agreeabh* evident. The trees 
and the open spaces are often so massed as to present real com- 
positions of distinct character instead of forming merely a con- 
fused monotony of agreeable objects. Because these effects are 
good, as well as because man}- of the trees themselves are fine, 
and because the central part of the space is now to some extent 
open, it might perhaps be best here to abandon a strict formality 
even in the larger features of the plan and attempt mereh- to 
keep an effect of openness along the axis. (Fig. 20.) 

Another reason for departing from a strictly symmetrical plan 
in this section would be that the ground has a decided slope 
from south to north, and a closely symmetrical plan with 
unsymmetrical slopes is most disappointing and uncomfortalile. 
This fact was evidently realized between 1792 and iSoo, for on 



32 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

the plan of the first date buildings are shown continuously 
on both sides of the Mall (map No. i), while in the plan of 1800 
the buildings are shown only upon the higher or southerly side. 

I have assumed that the Pennsylvania Railroad might be 
shifted over from Sixth to Seventh streets, in order to bring 
the tracks to a suitable station, facing Pennsylvania avenue, 
on the site of the Center Market, and in order that the bridge 
over the tracks might also span the electric railway of Seventh 
street. In studying the problem I have also disregarded the 
Monument, in that I have adhered strictly to the original axis, 
which coincides with that of the Capitol. Great as is the 
importance of the Monument in connection with the Mall, 
the Capitol is vastl}^ more important, and I am rather inclined 
to think that the eccentricity of the one great feature in an 
otherwise perfect scheme might be less objectionable than a 
serious imperfection running through the whole plan and sadly 
decreasing its value as a recognition of the dominance of the 
Capitol. 

The question of locating the proposed memorial bridge across 
the Potomac is directly connected with the treatment of the 
Capitol axis, and here again we can learn something from 
L,'Enfant's plan. He carried the axial treatment beyond the 
site for the Monument only far enough to cross the full width 
of the President's Park, and then brought it squarely to a ter- 
minus at the river. That its further continuation hy the bridge 
to a distance of 2^ miles from the Capitol would be effective is 
probable, but such a long extension would by no means increase 
the effect in proportion to its length, while it may be objected to 
a bridge on this axis that it would entirely ignore the direction 
of the river which it spanned. A bridge upon the line of New 
York avenue would cross the river directly, and, as a traffic 
bridge, would continue a great highway leading from the White 
House and from the busy and growing portion of the cit}'. In 
examining the plans recommended by the bridge commission, 
however, one can not but criticise the proposed deflection of 5 
degrees to the left, caused, I am told, by a provision in the bill 
requiring the westerl}^ end of the bridge to be on land now in- 
cluded in the Arlington Reservation. Such a weak and appar- 
ently meaningless deflection would be exceedingly disappointing 
in the approach to a bridge of such length and monumental 
importance. 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 33 

The treatment of the railroad crossing problems, together 
with the exact disposition of the public buildings on either side 
of the Mall, the question of centering the Mall on the Morui- 
ment, and the question of locating the memorial bridge, are not 
to be settled ofThand by an3'bod3\ The solution of the general 
problem involved in the revision of the Mall demands months of 
careful stud}^ and consideration by able and appreciative men, 
while the suggestions given here are the crude product of a few 
days' thought. But one thing is clear: The fundamental impor- 
tance of living up to the greatness of the original plan, and by 
simplifying and unifying the grounds between the Capitol and 
the Monument, making them a worthy support to the Capitol 
of the nation and a suitable setting for the buildings that are to 
supplement it. 

It has been objected that new buildings should not be placed 
in the Mall because the public park area would thereby be 
reduced — an objection that seems to arise from a misconception. 
A piece of ground may serve anj- of a great variety of purposes 
and yet be known as a public park, but if it is to serve its pur- 
pose, however complex, in an effective manner, that purpose 
must be clearly borne in mind in planning ever}' feature. A 
park ma}' serve several purposes at once; but one of them must 
be chosen as dominant, and, if their requirements ever conflict, 
the others must be sacrificed to it, or not one of them will be 
successfully realized, and the result will be confused and 
■scrappy. One of the purposes which a large public park can 
serve is to provide the citizens with a body of rural scenery 
which will offer in its quietness the greatest possible change 
from the normal conditions of town life — from its somewhat 
nerve-wearing pleasures as well as from its sordid cares. x\s 
this purpose can be served onl}' in a large park, and as most 
other purposes can be served in parks of moderate extent, this 
is most often the motif which should dominate the treatment of 
a great city park. At all events, when it is the adopted motif 
it is worse than folly to sacrifice its successful attainment to the 
occasional introduction of some other and conflicting motif, 
such, for instance, as the display of a large, beautiful, and com- 
manding architectural composition. Wherever in a public park 
the primary motif of providing this quiet rural scener}- seems 
to have been deliberately, wisely, and thoughtfully chosen, 
I should steadfastl}' oppose the introduction into it of any 
S. Doc. 94 3 



34 Improvement of the City of Washington, 

unnecessary building, though it were championed hy everj' 
architect of the Institute; because the enjojnnent it might afford 
would be of that civic sort from which it was the purpose of that 
park to afford a change. 

Here on the Mall we have conditions entireh' different. The 
purpose to which the land was first set apart, and the purpose 
which it can serve with more complete artistic success than an}- 
•other, is not primarilj' to rest the wear}- and give relief from the 
strain of modern life — that is the part to be pla3'-ed by the great 
Rock Creek Park, and, if you chose, by the park on the 
reclaimed lands — but on the Mall it is to form a contributing 
part in the effect of grandeur, power, and dignified magnificence 
which should mark the seat of government of a great and 
intensely active people. 

Finally, ought not the professional men of the countr}- as a 
matter of principle to stand firml}- and unanimouslj- for the 
maintenance of the original plan formall}- adopted b}" the Gov- 
ernment more than a hundred years ago? In great undertak- 
ings requiring centuries to mature the one hope of unit}- and 
harmon}^, the one hope of successful issue, is the establishment 
of a comprehensive plan and the consistent adherence to it. 

In any great ptan time must develop features which seem under 
the conditions of the present moment capable of improvement, 
but unless the plan appears upon thoughtful and conservative 
judgment distinctl}- bad the one safe course is to adhere stead- 
fastlj^ to its fundamental features. Once open the plan to a 
radical change, once establish the precedent of seriousl}- altering 
it to meet the ideas of the moment, and the bars are thrown 
down for caprice and confusion. 

Here is a plan not hastily sketched, nor by a man of narrow 
views and little foresight. It is a plan with the authorit}" of a 
century behind it, to which we can all demand undeviating 
adherence in the future; a plan prepared by the hand of 
ly' Enfant, but under the constant, direct, personal guidance of 
one whose technical knowledge of surveying placed the problem 
completely within his grasp, and who brought to its solution the 
same clear insight, deep wisdom, and forethought that gave pre- 
eminence in the broader fields of war and statesmanship to the 
name of George Washington. 



THE GROUPING OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN A 
GREAT CITY. 



Bv C. Howard Walker, F. A. I. A. 



THE title of the paper that I have Deeu asked to prepare 
implies the admission of the fact that buildings of any 
description gain in effect b}' being grouped, and that 
isolated buildings, of whatever individual merit, are insignifi- 
cant in comparison to massed constructions, even if these latter 
be comparativel)' mediocre in qualit\\ It requires but little 
argument to uphold this statement. Everj^ famous architectu- 
ral pile in the world testifies to it, and the buildings of modern 
expositions are additional witnesses. 

It is, then, a manifest waste of opportunit)' to erect monu- 
mental buildings so far apart from each other that thej' can not 
be seen together excepting from a balloon. 

The fact admitted that buildings should be massed, the con- 
ditions influencing such massing are next to be considered. 

Primarily they are conditions of utilit}-. Buildings are placed 
where they will do the most good, where they can be the most 
conveniently approached, and will hold the most practical rela- 
tions to each other. 

If these conditions are allowed to act, all public buildings are 
naturall}' gregarious. There is one other important factor — that 
of the avoidance, as far as may be, of the disturbance of exist- 
ing conditions. From these conditions have resulted the Ring 
Strasse of Vienna, the boulevards of Brussels, Antwerp, and 
Frankfort, and the consequent placing of important buildings 
upon them. 

The demolition of ancient city walls and subsequent filling 
in of moats gave room for municipal improvement without 
demolition and preserved a tradition while embellishing the city. 

35 



36 ^Improvement of the City of Washington, 

The mediaeval city market or meeting place, whether within 
or without a citadel, no longer exists as the pulsing heart of a 
cit}^, for the cities have become of such extent that squares or 
places must multiply in number. What in the old days was the 
heart has now become a series of gangliae or nerve centers, con- 
nected by avenues, parks, or boulevards. What was formerly 
a coup d'ceil has become a series of points of interest which 
should not have mean approaches. The picturesque masses of 
castles and cathedrals were the more interesting from the con- 
trasting hovels clustering around their feet, but the dignity of 
modern civic buildings does not accord with such a setting. The 
city of to-day has grown too large to be picturesque; its avenues 
are too broad, its spaces too vast, its distances too great. Acci- 
dent must give place to intention, or the general effect of the 
city will be haphazard, incongruous, and incomplete. The 
impression of incompleteness is characteristic of American cities, 
for the reason that with few exceptions they have either no 
initial scheme in plan or a meager one. There is, it is true, the 
numbered and lettered gridiron plan of Philadelphia and Chi- 
cago, which "grinds down their stones to a pale unanimity," in 
which all streets are alike and one view as good as another, but 
such planning can hardly be considered an achievement. Wash- 
ington has a plan of a higher type and greater possibilities, and 
■ in spite of the numerous indignities to which it has been sub- 
mitted it still gives the city its individual character and much 
of its undoubted attractiveness. 

This plan is based upon centers of interest, not too far apart 
to be seen from each other, and, therefore, vistas terminate with 
a monument, sculptural or architectural. This is a very great 
gain and exists in only two other cities — Paris and Rome. 
Nothing is more ignominious than a broad avenue leading to 
nothing and fading away at either end into the fraj^ed skirts of 
a city. 

The same mind that first conceived a plan where all streets 
were alike arose to a loftier height of inspiration and introduced 
final perfection into his plan by assuming that a very broad, 
perfectly straight avenue of infinite length was the finest pos- 
sible street for a great city. There can be no greater blunder 
in planning. What is more wearisome than endless streets of 
which the destination can not be foretold? All scale is lost by 
too long perspective; and unless avenues are viewed from an 



Iviprovement of the City of }Vashington. 37 

eminence or are terminated by an important mass of buildings 
raised high in the air, it is safe to assume that one-half a mile 
is quite long enough for an}- uninterrupted vista. One of the 
fundamental principles of architectural planning is that of axes, 
upon which are strung both the voids and solids of the masses 
of building. A great avenue is a great axis, a great void, but 
it should not be that alone; it should lead to the greater solid 
masses at either end. It is important, then, that the chief build- 
ings should be, not upon the sides, but upon the axes of great 
avenues, and, in fact, in most cases where the buildings have 
been first established, the axial avenues have later been con- 
structed b}^ demolition. Unfortunatel}' the reverse process does 
not as often occur. The avenue once established becomes a 
public right of wa}-, and there is nothing so repugnant to the 
Anglo-Saxon mind as to interrupt or interfere with anj'thing 
which has once become public propert}-. Even bridging a right 
of way is considered an injustice; it must remain open to the 
stars themselves. Fortunatel}- in Washington the necessit}- for 
constructing centers of interest on the axes of avenues is not 
felt. The}' already exist. The danger seems to be this: That 
the sides of the existing or to be created avenues are held to be 
adequate sites for new Government buildings, while in point of 
fact those buildings should be built upon their axes. Unter den 
Linden, in Berlin, is in this respect an excellent object lesson. 
Despite some admirable buildings upon its sides, such as the 
Russian Embass}' and the Arsenal, this famous avenue is inef- 
fective until one end is reached, when the Brandenburg Gate, a 
puerile imitation of the Propjdse, is thrown frankh' across its 
axis and at once dignifies it. At the other end of the Unter 
den Einden is a marvelous example of purposeless planning. 
There is prevalent another impression in regard to great ave- 
nues, which is this: That a bridge is of greater value and merit 
than the avenue leading to it, and can be considered as a termi- 
nal unit, and that it is of greater importance than the avenue 
leading to it. As a matter of fact, a bridge is an integral part 
of the avenue and counts little in effect when seen from the 
avenue. 

The architectural merit of a bridge, which ma}- be great, is 
seen from up or down the stream. Its artistic value as a monu- 
ment is entirely due to the uniformity and symmetry of its sides 
and the contrast of open spaces to high facades, and to the 



38 Improvement of the City of lVashmgto?i. 

treatment of its approaches. When the bridge is a very long 
one, any treatment of its center, far from either bank, is neces- 
sarily isolated, and when such treatment is suggested by 
construction conditions, as in the case of a draw, it need not be 
unduly exaggerated. In most cases the merit of a bridge is in 
its long horizontal reaches, its repetition of spans, and the 
introduction of perpendicular motives is unnecessary. On the 
other hand, the ends or approaches of bridges admit of admirable 
monumental treatment, and absolute symmetrical treatment of 
these approaches is not essential. One of the most effective 
bridges in existence is the old bridge at Prague, w^hich is most 
unsymmetrical in treatment. Another is the bridge at Heidel- 
berg. The great towers of the new bridge in Loudon are most 
picturesque, but the length of the bridge is comparatively short, 
and the towers are but little isolated from the approaches at the 
ends. On the other hand, the long bridge at Worms, of a simi- 
lar conception, is ineffective. The ends of bridges should open 
into spaces or squares, affording ample opportunity for approach 
and circulation. It is at these points that excellent sites for the 
erection of monumental buildings occur. An avenue leading to 
a bridge need not be considered of sufficient importance to 
warrant the erection of the chief buildings along its sides. 
There exists also the river frontage. Buildings upon such a 
frontage are effective under the following conditions: 

First. When the stream is narrow and the}^ can be seen from 
the opposite bank. 

Second. When they are near the ends of bridges and can be 
seen from the bridges. 

Third. When the stream curves, and the planes of the facades 
are changing to conform with the curve. 

In all cases the embankment should be carefully treated into 
the stream. A terrace set back from the river, leaving the 
bank unkempt and rough and devoted to the accidents of river 
traffic, is not successful. The Elbe at Dresden is a case in 
point. It is well, if possible, to have ample space between the 
facades of the buildings on the river and the embankment, and 
to keep all wharfs and commerce from the frontage, or confine 
it to defined and isolated points. The treatment of a river 
front must be undertaken thoroughly. Half measures are sure 
to prove troublesome in the end. 

In one essential, American architecture has been peculiarly 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 39 

deficient; that is, in the monumental treatment of grades. 
Abrupt changes of grades are not obstacles, but opportunities. 
We have been abundantly satisfied if our buildings were planted, 
not set; that is, if the surface were leveled for them and they 
had no apparent connection wnth the ground on which they 
were placed. The Capitol is one of the chief admirable excep- 
tions to this fault. There is nothing more attractive than 
walls, steps, terraces, balustrades, and buttresses, which are 
integral parts of most buildings abroad, and which, when the 
natural grades have not given excuse for their existence, have 
been deliberately created as necessary setting to the buildings. 

In our ca.se in Washington, there is every opportunity for this 
class of work, and it is of infinite variety and advantage. It 
can be made to soften too great austerity of design, and to dig- 
nify too great license. In many cases the approaches to a sim- 
ple inexpensive structure exalt it above a pretentious, but unde- 
veloped neighbor, and in any scheme for the embellishment of 
a city, too much stress can not be laid on these important acces- 
sories to the higher architectural achievements. Much of the 
beauty of cities to-daj' also is due to judicious laws preventing 
unsightly structures, especially when these structures are erected 
by the municipalities themselves. For instance, it is a wise pre- 
caution that backgrounds to monuments, sculptural or architec- 
tural, should be, as far as possible, agreeable to the eye. There 
should be, therefore, civic laws which would make it impossible 
for any large unsightly building, manufacturing or otherwise, 
to be erected in proximity to public buildings; that is, the city 
should have the power of approval or disapproval on the design 
for such proposed buildings. At present there is in Dresden a 
large power-house with a huge yellow chimney being built 
directly behind the great opera house, of which Dresden is so 
justly proud, and which was Gottfried Semper's best work. 
The Dresdeners have erected a statue to Semper in the square, 
but they have permitted this intolerable structure to dwarf 
everything about it. 

In Berlin, the great War monument to Emperor William has 
for a background a cheap furniture establishment covered with 
signs, and a red and yellow brick industrial school. It is pro- 
posed to paint out the one and tear down the other, both of 
which would have been unnecessary if the monument had been 
well placed. If a monumental avenue is established, it would 



40 Improvement of the City of Washington, 

be well to follow the example of Budapest in relation to its 
great Andrass}- Strasse; that is, there should be specific laws 
passed in relation to the facades upon the avenue, as to height 
and character, and the existence of unsighth' party walls should 
be made an impossibility. If possible, the cit}' should have 
similar control of the corners at the crOvSsing of all great avenues, 
and of buildings upon the axes of great avenues. A final, ap- 
parentl}' minor, detail is of the utmost importance. 

Every cit}' should control the designs and location of all flag, 
gas, electric, and trolley poles, of all curbs and drinking foun- 
tains, of all signs be3'ond a specified size, and of all kiosks. Many 
beautiful streets and buildings in foreign and our cities are made 
hideous b}' signs and kiosks. 

These restrictive laws would be specific laws for specific and 
worth}^ purposes; they would be unjust to none and calculated 
to appreciate rather than to depreciate real estate. Accident and 
disorder went far to make the picturesqueness of the ancient 
cit3^ Its time has past. Order and restraint are essential to the 
beaut)" of the modern city. 

Thus far these are general considerations applicable to all 
cities. It is now a question as to their direct application to 
Washington, in order to make it compare favorably with the 
great capitals of the world. Let us see what those capitals have 
done with their opportunities. In most cases they are upon 
rivers, and have taken advantage of the river banks. In many 
cases they were walled cities, and when under modern conditions 
these walls were removed, their places have been taken by boule- 
vards encircling the center of the cit}-. In either, and in both 
cases, public buildings have been placed upon the river embank- 
ments and upon the boulevards; in all cases bridges have been 
made monumental. In addition to this eminences have alwa^^s 
been considered as fitting sites for the most noble buildings. In 
most modern cities in Europe the condition enforced by the 
already existing remains of the past has made a comprehensive 
scheme of treatment difficult, and the most that could be done 
was to make the best of possibilities. Paris and Budapest 
are perhaps exceptions; in both cases nothing has been allowed 
to interfere with a broad, well-studied scheme. Overcoming 
obstacles, and adapting conditions are very apt to add an 
additional charm to results, and to produce a more attractive 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 41 

though less formal city. The different capitals of Europe have 
treated their problems as follows: 

London has chosen to make its river embankment and bridges 
its chief monumental feature, its great secondary' feature being 
its parks. In no case are there fine vistas or impressive avenues 
in London if we except perhaps Waterloo Place and the Duke 
of York's Column. The river front is its great architectural 
effort. 

Berlin has ignored its river, the Spree, which, while insignifi- 
cant, could have been made attractive. There has been an effort 
made at the bridges. The great avenue, the Unter den Linden, 
is effective when it broadens before the Brandenburg Gate, which 
is thrown across it. At the other end it spreads into a waste of 
squares upon which the Opera House, the Palace, the Cathedral, 
and the old Museum are placed with little regard to grouping. 
As the}' are, however, all important buildings, the}' make a very 
eft'ective showing despite their careless arrangement. 

Outside the Brandenburg Gate is a long wooded avenue lead- 
ing through a park to Charlottenburg. At a little distance 
from the gate, crossing it at right angles, is the new Siegs AUee 
or Avenue of, Victory with "16 exedrse on either side, with a 
marble figure of Prussian rulers in each, and on either side of 
the statue busts of his principal subjects. The avenue leads up 
to the Column of Victory which is in the midst of a great circular 
place, on one side of which is the new theater and on the other 
the new Reichstag. The scheme of this avenue is fine, but it 
is somewhat disconnected from the city plan. 

Dresden. — There is an effort to make the river effective. On 
one side is the new finance building, on the other the beginning 
of the Brulil Terrace, with the facades of the Arcadneun and 
the art building. The bridges are fine. The commerce of the 
river has been allowed to remain between the terrace and the 
stream, and the effect is of incompleteness. 

The group of great buildings in the Schloss Platz, the cathe- 
dral, museum, opera, and palace, while having little relation to 
each other and no consistent scheme of plan, are, like those 
in Berlin, from their importance and the fact that no mean envi- 
ronment appears, most effective. 

Madrid. — The river is unconsidered; the palace alone is well 
placed and effective. 



42 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

Rome. — The river is now being edged with embankments and 
boulevards, which some day will be attractive. 

The bridges are strong, vigorous, and effective. 

The magnificent scheme of approach to St. Peter's, one of the 
greatest architectural tours de force in existence, is too well 
known to need long description. The equally fine Piazza del 
Popolo, with the Prucio at one end and the new bridge leading 
to a long avenue and to St. Peter's, is the second great piece of 
architectural planning in Rome. All avenues in Rome have a 
terminal group of buildings, and its vistas are extremely fine. 

Bjidapest is exceptional, inasmuch as it is essentially a modern 
city, and has been laid out upon a well-devised scheme, especial 
attention having been paid to the river front and to the bridges, 
and a great boulevard, the Andrass}' Strasse, being carried out 
to the pleasure parks. Upon the embankment only large and 
important buildings have been erected, with long facades; in 
fact, in the entire length of the river front, over a mile in 
length, there are but 23 facades, so that the importance and 
length of each can be imagined. In addition to this the 
embankment is planted with trees, and is devoted to foot pas- 
sengers only, carriages being stopped at the points where the 
streets and avenues debouch on the embankment. On the oppo- 
site side of the river, in the old town of Buda, rises the palace, 
terrace after terrace, finely placed and set. 

The Andrassy Strasse has harmonious buildings its entire 
length, there having been control of the designs of the fagades 
by the municipality. 

Brussels. — The old mediaeval square is one of the finest in 
Europe, but it has no connection with the plan of the modern 
city. There are two sets of boulevards — one around the city, 
occupying the site of the old walls, the other across the city, 
where the old canal formerly served for commerce. The other 
set is too far from the center to be important. The cross boule- 
vards are about thirty-five years old, and prizes of from 1,000 
to 4,000 francs were offered for the best designs for facades. 
Many buildings were built from these designs, and the resuk is 
pleasing but not especially monumental. There are few effect- 
ive terminations and vistas. The far-famed Palais de Justice, 
one of the largest buildings in the world, and certainly one of 
the worst architecturally, is well placed on an eminence, but 
with very poor approaches — bare and crude. The Great Rue 



Improvement of the City of Washington, 43. 

Royale leading to it has some good facades upon it, but they 
are juxtaposed to badly designed mercantile buildings, and 
there is therefore no effect of ensemble, as in Berlin, Dresden, 
Vienna, Paris, or Budapest. The palace is on a parked 
square, and is mediocre. 

Fra7ikfurt. — Another z\\.y with interesting ancient central 
square, now left at one side, new boulevards taking the places, 
of old walls, and in other respects a city of broad avenues with 
occasional monuments and fountains; not especially interesting. 

Florence. — With its fine mediaeval square apart, new boule- 
vards instead of its walls, but without interesting buildings upon 
them, but with excellent bridges and good embankments on the 
river Arno. 

Prague. — Apart from occasional old buildings, its entire in- 
terest centers upon its embankment, its fine bridge, and the 
magnificent situation of the cathedral and hradchin or palace 
on the heights across the river. The cathedral is not a great 
one architecturall}", and the hradchin is commonplace to the last 
degree, but their size and situation make them most impressive. 
The bridge is very elaborate with end towers and arches and 
heav3^ buttresses and high groups of statuary on its sides. It 
is extremely monumental. 

Vien7ia has not made much of the embankments of the 
Danube, though work to that end is now in progress. On the 
other hand, its Ring Strasse, a very broad boulevard around the 
city in place of its former walls, is a very fine performance. 
All the principal buildings are on this Ring Strasse, and as its 
direction changes every few thousand feet, they are seen at the 
ends of vistas and at all points of view. They are vast in 
dimensions and in most cases fine in design. The famous 
Prado is a great avenue through a wooded park, and like all 
others of its class, such as the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, 
the Thiergarten avenue, the avenue at the Hague, the Cascine 
in Florence, etc. 

Paris has taken advantage of every niche of its river bank, 
and by the fine scheme of the Champs Elysee and the gardens 
of the Tuilleries terminating at one end in the Kxo. de Triomphe 
and on the other end the I^ouvre, and by the series of radial 
avenues from the Arc de Triomphe and the Avenue de 1' Opera 
has created a series of architectural vistas unequaled in other 
cities. The restrictive laws in regard to buildings and the 



44 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

careful control of designs of monumental work in Paris is 
greater than elsewhere, and the effect is manifest in 'the streets 
of the city. 

It is apparent that the most attractive cities are those where 
some broad comprehensive plan of treatment has been conceived 
and adhered to, and when if poor surroundings or inferior archi- 
tecture forced itself into prominence, its effect was minimized 
either b}- planting out with trees or b}" interrupting continuous 
vistas b}' a monument or building. Also that in many cities 
the most attractive feature is merely a collection of the most im- 
portant buildings, even if these are not planned in relation to 
each other. It is not necessary to be enamored with the idea 
of magnificent distances. It is not within the capabilit}' of human 
effort to make all things in the range of vision agreeable to the 
ej^e. Let us minimize the difficulties and shorten the range of 
vision. A great city resembles an articulate animal; it is made 
up of a number of parts jointed to each other. It grows in that 
waj'. Each part must, however, be complete in itself, though 
subordinate to the general scheme. Let us apply this reasoning 
to Washington. B3' looking at the old plan of the cit}^ it seems 
that there was a marked and definite initial scheme. Two great 
centers were created, one the Capitol, the other the White House; 
from these radiated the avenues like spokes of a wheel. The 
main axes, however, of these buildings, which were at right 
angles to each other, were broadened into great parks extending 
west from the Capitol and south from the White House to the 
river — the park from the Capitol being naturally much larger 
than the other. It was manif esth* first intended to erect impor- 
tant public buildings upon either side of this long park; in fact, 
they are indicated on the plan. This would have created a 
great National Court of Honor. In some wa3"s it may be regret- 
ted that this scheme was not carried out; in others it may be the 
better in the future that it was not, as the plan was unneces- 
saril}' formal and uninteresting. There was, apparenth', never 
anj' well considered treatment at the crossing of the axes of the 
parks. 

At present the great Monument is then not exacth' on either 
axis, but sufficiently near for all purposes. The scheme went en- 
tirel}' to pieces when it approached the water front, undoubtedh" 
for good reasons, as the water front was not established. This 
great scheme is still the base for the architectural treatment of 



Improvevient of the City of Washington. 45 

Washington. It can not be ignored. It is perfectly apparent 
from both the Capitol and Executive grounds and from the 
river. What up to this time has been done with it? It is per- 
fectly evident that the original intention was that the White 
House should terminate the vistas of New York and Pennsyl- 
vania avenues, which vistas are now closed by oblique views of 
the Army and Navy building and the Treasury building. At 
this point, therefore, the conditions are changed and fixed. 
The Executive grounds are left open and intact to B street. It 
is well they should remain so. The long park to the Capitol is 
largely untouched. It is crossed by Third, Four-and-a-half, 
Sixth, Seventh, Twelfth, and Fourteenth streets, and is thereby 
divided into the public gardens — Armory Square, Smithsonian 
grounds. Agricultural grounds, and Monument grounds. These 
have received surface treatment only as natural parks, and no 
formal treatment even of paths, while it will be remembered the 
original treatment was extremely formal. The only buildings 
erected are on the southern side of the park, and beginning at 
the east are as follows: Fish Commission, Medical Museum, 
National Museum, Smithsonian building, iVgricultural building. 
The}' bear no relation to each other, but from east to west are 
graduall)" pushed forward toward the central axis of the park. 
They do not, however, in any wa}^ interrupt it or interfere with 
it, and can be so far isolated by trees that they in no waj'' conflict 
with each other. So that these buildings may not be disturbed 
(they are to an extent venerable and with traditions) all treat- 
ment of the park up to the Monument grounds should be entirely 
upon the central axis and confined largely to surface treatment; 
that is, to central fountains, monuments, and formal reaches of 
path accenting the axis and flanked by statues or exedrae. 

I do not know to what extent it is desirable to erect future 
buildings on these grounds; the}' are eminently fitted for them, 
but if the}" are to be erected they should be placed on the 
northerly side, opposite the existing buildings and on their cross- 
axes. When the Monument grounds are approached the problem 
assumes larger proportions. The Monument is now alone. An 
obelisk is impressive from its simplicity and size, and is even 
more impressive from a distance than near at hand. Especially 
is it desirable in the case of an obelisk of as great size as is the 
Washington Monument to have buildings near enough to it to 
indicate its relative scale. All the great obelisks were and are 



46 h)iprovement of the City of Washingtoyi . 

associated with monumental buildings. Those in Egj'pt were 
placed before the pylons of the temples. In the Piazza of St. 
Peters, the Piazza del Popolo, and in front of Santa Maria 
Maggiore in Rome, and on the embankment in London the 
obelisks are grouped with architectural backgrounds. There is, 
therefore, no objection to be made to the erection of buildings 
on the Monument grounds on the score that the)^ will detract 
from the impression made by the Monument; the}' will, on the 
contrarj', enhance it. In what waj^ should buildings be placed 
on the.se grounds? Certainly no large masses should intercept 
the view of the Monument from either the Capitol or the White 
House; therefore no large masses should be on the axes of these 
liuildings between them and the Monument. This does not, 
however, forbid the construction of open colonnades or monu- 
mental groups on either side of the axes. Toward the river 
both axes should be brought to an adequate termination. In 
fact, looking from the White House south toward the river, the 
problem is not unlike that of the Court of Honor at Chicago, 
looking from the Administration building toward the lake — only 
here distances are much more vast and methods of treatment 
must, therefore, be much more comprehensive. 

The chief architectural problem is, without doubt, at the 
crossing of the axes of the Capitol and of the White House. 
Here should be the nucleus for future architectural effort, and 
the Monument is sufficiently great and simple to be in nowise 
injured by the proximity of buildings. The White House vista 
will extend to the river; the Capitol vista may or maj^ not, as 
conditions will decide. At all events, the axis will be cut across 
in some way at the continuation of Seventeenth street. Between 
Seventeenth street and the river westerly may be left as park 
land, securing an uninterrupted and extremely effective view of 
the new monumental bridge. If buildings should be erected on 
this land, they should be so placed that the}^ will not intercept 
the view of this bridge from the Monument grounds. The river 
bank, southeasterl)^ from the end of New York avenue, admits 
of unusually fine landscape, terrace, and balustrade treatment 
leading up to buildings on the Monument grounds and effective 
from the river, and it is difficult to imagine that more space 
should be required for any future public buildings than is to be 
found at the corners of the Monument grounds and on the 
northerly sides of the Agricultural and Smithsonian grounds. 



Improvement of the City of Wasliington. 47 

In every American city, without exception, the effect of the 
pubHc buildings has been lost b}^ their separation and isolation. 
This is as true of colleges and institutions as of Government and 
municipal buildings. 

The power of correlation of cooperation is as great in artistic 
effect as it is in practical action. There is a close relation 
between aesthetics and mechanics, and the)^ have been too long 
divorced. 

The concentration of the chief buildings of a cit}- in its 
acropolis, or market place, is what has made the architectural 
grandeur of Athens, Florence, Venice, Buda, Moscow, and 
Paris. Imagine the grouped buildings of these cities separated 
and isolated in obscure places, and 3^ou go far to destroy the 
wonders of the world. On the other hand, imagine, if you can, 
the isolated best buildings of New York, or Chicago, or of 
Washington brought together into one group, and incongruous 
as they might be they would be worth long travel to see. This, 
however, it is impossible to compass, but it is possible to consider 
the fact in future building, and it is also possible to unite 
existing buildings b}- arcades, colonnades, or even formal 
avenues of trees with balustrades and sculpture. It is a mistake 
to consider these of secondar)' importance. And we should not 
too much eliminate foliage. Only the great arteries of a cit}^ 
require unobstructed street surface. Elsewhere boulevards and 
squares are all the better for having grass and trees, and such 
planting and setting in connection with public buildings is most 
attractive. There is, as we know, an unusual opportunity to 
make our Capital compare with the other great cities of the 
world. The will is not wanting, neither do I believe is the ability 
to secure the wished-for result. 



THE MONUMENTAL GROUPING OF GOVERNMENT 
BUILDINGS IN WASHINGTON. 



By Edgar V. Seeler, F. A. I. A. 



WHILE the selection and development of the site of the 
national capital are familiar history, there are cer- 
tain conditions, certain principles in connection 
therewith, which can not be too distinctl)^ kept in mind. 
These have been lost to view at periods of the country's his- 
tory, and at this present moment are threatened with lack 
of proper consideration. The location of the capital on the 
banks of the Potomac ^vas, it is true, a political compromise. 
It might, in so far as centrality is concerned, that is' to say, 
centrality removed from undue influence over measures of gov- 
ernment by the commercial forces of the newly united prov- 
inces, and in so far as natural topography, possibilities of archi- 
tecture and landscape, and desirability as a residential city are 
concerned, have been located in a hundred other places. In fact, 
only a year before the act of Congress of July lo, 1790, which 
determined upon the banks of the Potomac by a majority of 
three, there had been a majority of twelve in favor of the Dela- 
ware. A bill providing for a site on the Susquehanna had pre- 
viously passed the House. This was amended by the Senate so 
that Germantown should be substituted, but the bill was finally 
lost. While the present location was a compromise, yet General 
Washington had been in favor of it from the beginning, and his 
wishes had great influence with the Northern States. Washing- 
ton's interest in the project was therefore assured in the greatest 
possible degree, and with him that of the broad minds of the 
time, who had been his intimates in the Revolution and the earliest 
days of the Republic. To him was committed the task of fixing 
the precise site for the new city and appointing commissioners 
48 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 49 

for erecting it. From this moment he is in reality the chief actor 
in the founding of the capital, with the assistance of Jefferson 
and Madison. Washington knew the Potomac from boyhood, 
and his judgment now strengthened his sentiment in the choice 
of the plain between the Potomac and the Eastern Branch, just 
below Georgetown, in an amphitheater of hills, with the pictur- 
esque river disappearing in both directions between the woodlands. 
It was he, too, w^ho selected the engineer to lay out the cit}^ 
Major Pierre Charles L^'Enfant, a man who had had the advan- 
tage of France's best military education, clever in fortifications, 
broad of vision, foreseeing not a struggling handful of patriots 
sparsely scattered through thirteen States, but a mighty Republic 
of fifty States and five hundred millions of people. He investi- 
gated every point of the territory; he studied the problem from 
the stream and the adjacent commanding hills; he remembered 
the great parks of France; he secured from Jefferson maps of all 
the great cities of the world. And from them all, j^et independ- 
ently of them all, he evolved the plan which to-day stands unique 
in magnificent possibilities. The President saw and understood. 
That plan is even more familiar than the national history leading 
up to it. 

This, then, is a site selected after much thought and conscien- 
tious deliberation by Washington, a plan developed under his 
guidance by the foremost engineer of the time; the whole 
indorsed by Jefferson and Madison and the territorial commis- 
sioners. A plan which, in its essential scheme, the intervening 
years have stamped with their approval. And yet a plan which 
was practically forgotten after the Capitol and the White House 
were located until within a few 3'ears. 

It seems that we Americans awake to the artistic possibilities 
around us only when they have been sacrificed. We turn our 
political management over to men who must, in the nature of 
things, have a deciding voice iu a thousand and one matters 
outside of law, of which they have no knowledge and can not 
be expected to have any knowledge; about which they seek 
and are willing to accept instruction, and we give them none. 
The surgeons and phj'sicians of the countrj- awoke to this years 
ago, organized and made their voice felt in the land. We archi- 
tects are just beginning to see that there is a mission for our 
organization, and some spasmodic endeavors have been made to 
carry out that mission. 
S. Doc. 94 4 



50 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

Now, if ever, is the supreme opportunit}' for the national 
organization of the architects of the United States to speak and 
advise concerning the national capital of the United States. 

Fortunatel}-, the status of matters architectural in the citj^ of 
Washington is such that while much has been thus far lost, 
projects pending for the development of the cit}' are of such 
an important nature that if properly carried out the citj^'s 
monumental character may be established forever. The con- 
verse is, unfortunately, quite as true, that if improperly carried 
out, the city's monumental character ma}* be sacrificed beyond 
redemption. 

Stated categorically the main monumental feature's of 
L'Enfant's plan are (map No. i): 

I. The dominance of the Federal building. 

II. An avenue of direct communication between the Capitol 
and the White House. 

HI. The development toward the westward of the east and 
west axis of the Capitol in conjunction with the north and south 
axis of the White House. 

In what way have these features been forgotten or tampered 
with by the constructions of the nineteenth century? The mass 
of the Capitol building, with its crowning Dome, set upon the 
highest point of the territory, is such that it would seem almost 
impossible to take from it its overwhelming importance. The 
center of eight broad, radiating avenues — it would seem that 
these vistas, specially planned for the purpose, would be forever 
most jealously guarded. One of the great satisfactions of the 
city — a pleasure that never ceases — is the view of the Capitol 
down Maryland avenue. (Fig. 21.) Another pleasing view, 
although the lack of development is felt, is that from the Mall. 
But by a strange irony of fate the views from the White House or 
along Pennsylvania avenue are cut off in the one instance and 
frightfully injured in the other. Proper reflection should have 
prevented the interruption of the vista from the White House hy 
the Treasury building. (Fig. 22.) If the Treasury building were 
less dignified, if it did not form with the War, State, and Navy 
building a balanced composition about the White House, it would 
be an unpardonable sin. But the judgment that allowed any man, 
architect or otherwise, to raise a dome in the immediate vicinit}' 
of the Capitol, and moreover to give to that dome an awkward 
line, inharmonious with the Dome of the Capitol, and, still 



t 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 51 

further, to color and gild it so that it loudly announces it pres- 
ence to the detriment of the great central object of the cit}-, that 
judgment can not be too severely criticised and censured. The 
Congressional Library would have worked out better in the gen- 
eral scheme if it had been one story lower; in any event, the 
dome should be suppressed even now. 

What would be the feelings of Washington and L' Enfant — 
the men of broad mind, capable of grasping a great theme, capa- 
ble of keeping it, and it alone, uppermost, to the suppression of 
all details — to find their first fundamental principle thus trifled 
with? 

Pennsylvania avenue has worked out its own special purpose. 
It must necessarily be a great thoroughfare, the street of hotels, 
banks, newspapers, theaters, stores — all the buildings that go to 
make up the civil life of the city. From the Treasury building 
to the southeast the Capitol is ever visible, and while we may 
not all agree as to the architectural excellence of the structures 
along the course of Pennsylvania avenue, we must admit that 
the tendency is toward improvement. There should be, how- 
ever, strict legislation as to the height of all buildings along it 
as to cornice levels, style, and color. 

Just as it is to be regretted that the Capitol is not visible from 
the White House, so it is an architectural loss that the view of 
the White House from Pennsylvania avenue is forever cut off. 
The first plan must have contemplated for the Executive build- 
ing a single structure or a group whose center was to be a dome 
complimentary to that of the Capitol. In the reconstruction of 
the White House this idea ma}' yet be realized, for the public 
and governmental uses of the Executive Mansion are fast out- 
stripping the private or residental needs of the President. In 
fact, it might be wiser to divorce the two entirely, and, as has 
been suggested, move the residence of the President and his 
family to some other and less public point. 

While the attitude to be assumed by the architects of the 
country with respect to the Capitol and to Pennsylvania avenue 
as parts of E' Enfant' s scheme is one of conservative suggestion 
tending to render an^^ further injury impossible, the attitude 
toward the third salient feature of the original plan should be 
definite and aggressive. 

In the report of the committee appointed ' ' to provide for 
an appropriate national celebration of the establishment of the 



52 Improvement of the City of Washingtoji. 

seat of governmeut in the District of Columbia, ' ' it was unani- 
mously adopted in conjunction with the fixing of the date of the 
celebration for December, 1900, and certain exercises in the 
House and Senate, "that the enlargement of the Executive 
Mansion in harmony with its present style of architecture, and 
the construction of an avenue to be known as ' Centennial 
avenue' running from the Capitol grounds through the Mall 
to the Potomac River, be made features of the celebration. ' ' To 
show how entirely the third essential in the scheme of the city 
had been forgotten, it was mentioned in support of the report 
by one of the committee, that, "strange to say, upon looking 
at the maps which the committee had before it, it was seen that 
the original plan of Washington, as prepared by Major L'Enfant, 
provided for just such an avenue, public buildings to be erected 
on either side of the same." Further evidence, if necessary, 
of the neglect of this principle through the century is found 
in the scattered and ill-organized placing of the various build- 
ings along the Mall. The Medical and National museums, 
the buildings of the Fish Commission, Smithsonian Institution, 
and the Bureau of Engraving, and the Agricultural building 
are not coordinated with each other, nor are they parts of any 
general scheme. The Medical Museum probably offends the 
worst, the unsightly rear of the building, irregular in outline, 
bad in color, and disfigured by fire escapes, being directed toward 
the Mall. (Fig. 23.) 

The Washington Monument was to have been placed at the 
intersection of the axes of the Capitol and the White House. 
It is about 100 feet south of the axis of the Capitol and several 
hundred feet to the east of the axis of the White House. 

Of the permanency of the above structures, it may be ven- 
tured to say that the Smithsonian and the Monument are the 
only ones which must be accepted. The others will probably 
outgrow their present quarters and require entirely new struc- 
tures. The Smithsonian may or may not be reconstructed. 

The magnificent possibilities of a boulevard, such as the pro- 
posed ' ' Centennial avenue, ' ' are almost without limit. The 
Avenue des Champs- Elysees, which resembles it most nearly, 
could not be compared to it for dignity, accessories of land- 
scape, formal as well as natural parking and sculpture. The 
buildings which line the Ringstrasse in Vienna form one of 



Improvement of the City of Washington, 53 

the most impressive groups in the world. Here we should 
have the advantage of straight axes and longer vistas. 

The development of the Mall into a monumental boulevard, 
if it is undertaken, must not be all gardening, as some have 
proposed, nor can sculpture do much of itself, whether isolated 
or grouped; it would be even worse if nothing but architecture 
were contemplated. It must be a judicious combination of all 
these essentials. 

There is a unique condition, also, in the possibilit}^ of contin- 
uing such a boulevard by a monumental bridge, for it is to be 
remembered, in this connection, that active steps have been 
taken toward the construction of a memorial bridge across the 
Potomac from the city to Arlington. Designs for a magnificent 
structure to cost some four million dollars have been submitted 
to the War Department, with recommendations looking to the 
adoption of one of them. The bridge as now contemplated is 
planned as a continuation of New York avenue, but there is 
no reason why it should not be combined with the boulevard. 

Given the conditions as above outlined, two .solutions are pro- 
posed by men who have given the subject consideration. 

One looks to fixing the line of the proposed avenue radially 
from the center of the Capitol Dome to the starting point of the 
new memorial bridge at the foot of New York avenue, near 
the old Observator}^, and changing the direction of the bridge 
to conform to this line. This cuts the Mall obliquely, creates a 
number of irregular properties along its route (of these Wash- 
ington has already too many), and locates certain new buildings 
on Fifteenth and Seventeenth streets, to the south of the White 
House. 

In the other solution, the axis radiates from the same point 
and passes through the center of the Washington Monument. 
The line of the bridge is also changed to conform. (Map No. 4. ) 
This latter scheme is very nearly, but not quite, at right angles 
to the Capitol, but its nearer approximation to being so renders 
it, from an architectural standpoint, worthier than the former. 
It has in it the essentials of a monumental plan which the former 
fails to suggest in the slightest degree. Groups of fountains, 
statuar5^ and monuments, rows of free-standing columns and 
formal gardens lead from the foot of the Capitol, by bridges, 
across the steam railroad tracks and the streets where troUej' 



54 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

cars run, to a grand circular colonnade surrounding the Monu- 
ment, ample in diameter, with triumphal arches at the cardinal 
entrances. The plaza thus formed is intended as a reviewing 
ground for parades and other spectacular events. Beyond the 
Monument, the boulevard is continued in much the same way 
as that to the east, with a secondary center of interest near 
the starting of the bridge. The lines of B street north and 
B street south have been revised so as to be parallel to the axis 
of the scheme and the sites for Government buildings located 
on them outside the Mall. 

It may be urged against this, as against any similar scheme, 
that it means a vast outlay of money and tedious negotiations 
for property, the surrender by corporations of rights already 
granted them, and that it would take years in construction. 
But these are difficulties which must be met in all great improve- 
ments. They might have been already met in large part if the 
sums spent on Government buildings had been persistently spent 
in this one channel. But in any event, the Government of the 
United States is strong enough and rich enough to carry through 
a project which promises to place the National Capital in the 
very first rank of the great cities of the world. 

It is impossible, however, not to revert to the original inten- 
tion of maintaining the axis of the Capitol and of maintaining 
it absolutely. The Washington Monument is off this axis; it 
is visibly so. Is it not better, therefore, to acknowledge it 
frankly? For there is nothing so worrisome in an axial scheme 
as a slight deviation from the axis, when the deviation is, never- 
theless, great enough to be noticed. It is like a rectangle which 
is neither a square nor yet definitel}^ not a square. The boule- 
vard at this point could still have a clear width of at least 150 
feet, and an architectural symmetry could be established with 
a center of minor interest on the north side of the boulevard. 

The trolley roads which cross the Mall can all be depressed 
without difficulty, and the boulevard carried across them by 
bridges, as the ground now rises to what would be the line of 
the boulevard. But the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks are a 
more serious problem. The desirable thing to do would be to 
move the station to the south side of B street South, thus doing 
away with the tracks altogether across the Mall. This might 
be accomplished if it could be shown to the railroad company 
that the convenience of access were not diminished; but failing 



Improveuient of the City of Washington. 55 

that, and rather than continue the boulevard by an unsightly, 
humped bridge at this point, the next best thing to do \vould 
be to depress the tracks as much as possible, have the actual 
starting point of the boulevard to the west of the tracks, and 
arrange driveways by means of raised bridges to the north and 
south of the boulevard, where the vista from any point to the 
west would not be disfigured. 

The solution of the problem should certainl}^ look to the reac- 
quisition of the four blocks from Third to Fifth, between Penn- 
sylvania and Missouri avenues, and between Maine and Mary- 
land avenues. These are occupied at present by mean brick 
buildings, and should never have been sold by the Government. 

The purchase of that great triangle of properties bounded by 
Sixth and Fifteenth streets, and b}' Pennsylvania avenue and B 
street North, is a question upon which a single individual should 
scarcely dare to give advice. There can be no doubt of the 
desirabilit}' of rehabilitating that section of the city, and as part 
of a monumental plan it would be invaluable. 

It would seem, however, that the Mall in its present extent is 
wide enough to admit of the placing of buildings on its outer 
edge without materially reducing its function as a park, and the 
buildings thus disposed would be as eas)'-, if not easier, of access 
one to another as in the second scheme. Nor need the area 
devoted to park purposes be materiall}' reduced. Buildings to 
count as a group must be near enough together to have their 
coordination evident at a glance. To place them outside the 
Mall, w4th informal natural parking between them, cuts them 
off entirely from each other. Is it not better that a portion, at 
least, of the Mall — such portion as the requirements of the next 
fifty years would indicate — be built up, not closely, but with 
such spacing that a monumental grouping may be accomplished, 
and that the real park be moved westward and developed toward 
and along the river front? It will not be many years before 
river walls and embankments will take the place of the present 
overgrown and neglected banks. 

The change of direction and starting point of the bridge may 
be objected to by the Government engineers, but it is defensible, 
architecturally, from the tremendous gain in importance to itself 
and to the boulevard by a combination of the two, and the start 
from a slightly lower level saves an extravagant amount of fill- 
ing which would have to be done to make of New York avenue 



56 Improvement of the City of Washington, 

a proper approach. Moreover, a slight rise in the pavement of 
the bridge from the land to the piers of the draw, would add 
grace and lightness to the profile of the bridge. 

By a combination of the bridge and boulevard is not meant 
that they should continue for their full length without inter- 
ruption. That would lead to loss of scale and lack of interest. 
At the transitjion from boulevard to bridge should be a vigorous 
architectural accent— a memorial arch or monumental group, if 
you choose; and other interruptions of a subsidiarj- nature 
might occur in the course of the boulevard. 

These various schemes are not in an}^ sense to be considered 
final, nor should the}" be so recommended hy their authors. 
The}^ serve to prove, however, that without sacrificing or dimin- 
ishing the qualities of the Mall as a park, the proposed "Cen- 
tennial avenue" through the Mall could be made one of the 
most wonderful boulevards of the world. It furnishes sites for 
the monumental grouping of Government buildings such as do 
not exist elsewhere in Washington, and which it is safe to saj^ 
can not, and in truth ought not, b}^ the verj^ nature of the citj^'s 
plan, be secured elsewhere. 

The most immediate hindrance to the proper carr^-ing out of 
any such boulevard scheme is not the inabilit}- or the unwilling- 
ness of the Government to provide mone}' for the improvements, 
but the lack of information on the part of those in whose power 
the disbursement of that mone}" lies. They do not realize the 
greatness of the opportunit3\ 

As a very recent and pregnant example, the proposed building 
for the Department of Justice, which is temporarily held in 
abeyance, is one of the most important buildings contemplated 
in recent years b}' the National Government, but it bears no 
architectural relation to the Treasury Building to which it is 
■opposite; it is without setting and liable to injury by the erec- 
tion of anything on the adjoining properties that their owners 
may see fit to put there. 

This is as far removed as any building could be from being a 
commercial venture. Indeed, it represents in the highest sense 
the dignity of the nation. It is therefore no more than fitting 
that this assembled bod)- of architects should protest against 
such a site, should point out that the onh' reasonable thing to 
do is for the Government to acquire the entire block of which it 
occupies a part and place the building on the axis of the 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 57 

Treasury binlding; or if the block is not to be obtained, that 
some other site, such, for instance, as the proposed boulevard 
offers, be decided upon. 

A suggestion has been made in this connection by the Super- 
vising Architect of the Treasury advocating a desirable site for 
the new Department of Justice, which with stud}' could be 
adjusted and connected with the general scheme for beautifying 
Washington. The main points are the acquisition of the half 
square immediately opposite the Treasur}' building, extending 
from Madison place to Fifteenth street, and the corresponding 
property opposite the War, State, and Navy building, the latter 
for some future building; the removal of the street-car tracks 
from Pennsylvania avenue in front of the White House, trans- 
ferring them to the adjacent streets; and the widening of Penn- 
sylvania avenue into a "place," with arches at the Fifteenth 
and Seventeenth street entrances. 

Those in authorit}- require advice, and advice of that special 
nature which can only be given b}' those whose training and 
experience specially qualifj^ them for it. 

No department of the Government should be permitted to 
choose a site or decide upon a building without the advice and 
consent of expert counselors. Through the Tarsney Act this 
has been accomplished in part in the Treasur)- Department. 
But when the monumental reconstruction of the city of Wash- 
ington is to be considered; or, rather, when the prodigal is to 
be welcomed home and reset up in his father's house, the occa- 
sion is one which cries for the appointment of a special commis- 
sion — a body of individual workers, with the power and means 
to employ the best talent in whatsoever lines their judgment 
shall direct, whose decisions shall command the respect of the 
nation, and shall be authoritative by reason of their feasibility 
and their artistic and practical excellence. 

In addition to the direct representatives of the Government 
and of the citj- of Washington, such a commission should be 
composed preeminently and in a majority of the most distin- 
guished architects, sculptors, and engineers of the country. 
While the work of such a commission could best be done by a 
few, and would necessaril}^ devolve upon a few, the commission 
should be as thoroughly representative as it is possible to make it. 

There is, on the one hand, the making of the greatest monu- 
mental citv in the world; on the other there is the sacrifice of 



58 Improvement of the City of Washington, 

our birthright, the undoing of all that Washington, Jefferson, 
and Madison made possible, and the sealing forever of the archi- 
tectural future of the nation's capital. The American Institute 
of Architects should pledge itself to the formation of a commis- 
sion, powerful, authoritative, and beyond question in its judg- 
ments, in whose hands the artistic development of the city of 
Washington shall be placed, and whose decisions shall be with- 
out recourse. 

The project of this boulevard and its attendant possibilities 
of Government architecture and the sister art lays a responsi- 
bility upon your shoulders and upon mine, come from whatever 
State or Territory we may. By its results Americans will be 
stamped as men of taste, intellect, and culture, or as men who 
neither know nor care. 



A SUGGESTION FOR GROUPING GOVERNMENT BUILD- 
INGS ; LANDSCAPE, MONUMENTS, AND STATUARY. 



By Glenn Brown F. A. I. A. 



[From the Architectural Review, August, 1900.] 

The tendenc}^ during the past ninet}^ 3'ears to locate Govern- 
ment buildings and statuary according to individual whim has 
been a great misfortune to the art interests of this countr}-. 

The selection of designs and sites for buildings and statuary 
has been carried on during this period without a definite plan 
and without taking into consideration what great advantages 
could be obtained by a proper and artistic grouping. 

In Washington parks have been utilized to save the expense 
of a site. Buildings have been placed directly on the street in 
many instances so as to utilize the total area of the ground. An 
endeavor to group and harmonize the buildings with the surround- 
ings and maintain the vistas originalh^ contemplated does not 
appear to have presented itself to the minds of any one of the 
separate departments which have been in charge of such work. 
This unfortunate state of affairs is not remarkable when it is 
remembered that the appropriations for such additions to the 
capital city are expended through many departments, each se- 
lecting the site and controlling the character of the designs for 
the building, park, or monument which comes within its juris- 
diction, although during the last few years experts have been 
called in to advise and act on juries. The tastes and capacities 
of committees, who form a majority of the juries, have been 
rarely so educated and cultivated as to insure a judicious selec- 
tion. In several instances, notably the selection of the Sherman 
statue, the expert advice has been overruled by the laymen on 
the committee, with unhappy results. 

59 



'6o Imp7'ovement of the City of Washington. 

No department since the earliest period in the history of the 
cit3' has apparentl)^ gone further than to consider the object 
under its jurisdiction as the one thing to be considered. What 
the Government has lost by such varied, diverse authority and 
selection will be easilj^ appreciated b)' a comparison of what has 
been done with what was originally contemplated in the plan of 
Washington and L' Enfant, the last in authoritj'- to appreciate 
the effects to be produced by massing so as to obtain a grand 
whole, with architecture, landscape, and statuarj^, each designed 
so as to harmonize and enhance the effect of the others, and 
together make an effective work of art. The original plan of 
the city contemplated, as one of its principal features, prominent 
buildings, forming a center from which the avenues radiated; 
this has been forgotten or considered of little importance. The 
Treasury, and War, State, and Nav}^ departments have been so 
located that they interfere with the vistas of the Executive 
Mansion (figs. 22 and 24). A view of the Executive Mansion, 
which was to have been visible down Pennsylvania avenue 
from the Capitol, has been completely cut off b}^ the obtrusion 
of the Treasurj^, and a similar vista has been destroyed by the 
War, State, and Navy building, which projects out beyond the 
line of New York avenue. 

The Congressional Eibrary is so placed that it produces a 
decided discord with the Capitol. From the west the dome 
(fig. 25) of the Library, as viewed from the Mall and Virginia, 
is apparently a gilded dome on one wing of the Capitol. This 
unhappy result is due both to the location of the new building 
and to the height of the dome. The latter was built much 
higher than contemplated in the adopted plan of the Library; 
but it is questionable if the first design would have been low 
enough to entirel}" overcome this objection. 

The view down Penns54vania avenue (fig. 26) toward the 
east has been destroj-ed in a far more serious way. Here we 
have a complete jumble of architectural features. The Library 
dome on one side and the dome of the Capitol apparently 
perched near the corner pavilion of the Library on the other 
side. There is no harmony in line or color. The contemplated 
vista of the Capitol down this avenue for miles was one of the 
most pleasing of sights, which thousands enjoyed until the 
erection of the new Library building. In the illustration (fig. 
2\) a view of the Capitol is shown down Maryland avenue 




I 



_> 



^ 






^ 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 6r 

which is similar to the former view on Pennsylvania avenue. 
By the omission of one or two trees, this view would be en- 
hanced and the end aimed at by Washington attained. There 
has been a proposition for several years to obstruct and mar this 
view of the Capitol by the erection of a Supreme Court build- 
ing on a site similar to the one selected for the Congressional 
lyibrary. 

If new buildings had been so placed, or of such a character as 
to give the same effect or a more pleasing one than the original 
buildings, the view of which they mar or completely obliterate, 
no one could complain ; but the selection of their sites precludes 
such views, even should we consider the buildings as objects of 
beaut}'. They are so placed that we only catch their corners, 
in most cases an unsatisfactory^ view, destroying the brilliant 
idea of the original scheme with its contemplated vistas. We 
must acknowledge that the portico of the Treasury, by T. U. 
Walter, is effective, although it destroys the vista of the Execu- 
tive Mansion. 

The original plan of the city contemplated a monument to 
George Washington on the intersection of the east and west axis 
of the Capitol and the north and south axis of the President's 
house. When a monument to our first President was com- 
menced, some fifty or sixty years ago, it was located about loo 
feet south of the axis of the Capitol aiid 500 feet east of the 
axis of the Executive Mansion. I have been unable to discover 
a reason for this change in the site. 

The most notable suggestion for building sites on the map of 
L' Enfant is the line which forms the north and south boundary 
of the parks between the Capitol and the Monument. (Map 
No. I.) 

The more the scheme laid out b}' Washington and L' Enfant 
is studied, the more forcibly it strikes one that a modification of 
this scheme will make the most satisfactory solution of the pres- 
ent problem. It is eas}^ to imagine the magnificence of a boule- 
vard beginning at the Capitol and ending with the Monument, 
a distance of nearly a mile and a half, bounded on both sides 
by parks laid out by a skilled landscape architect and adorned 
by the works of capable artists. Looking from the boulevard 
across the park a continuous line of beautiful buildings was to 
have formed the background. They were not to have been 
deep enough to curtail either the natural or artistic beauties of 



62 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

the park, or to encroach upon the people's rights to an air 
space. B}^ this time such an avenue would have acquired a 
world-wide reputation, if it had been carried out hy competent 
architects, landscape artists, and sculptors, consulting and 
working in harmon}^ with each other. The parked portion of 
the Champs Elysees (fig. 27) in Paris, which is approximately 
1,300 feet wide and three-quarters of a mile long, would not 
have compared with it in magnitude or grandeur. 

The original plan (map No. i) can be commended for other 
reasons than those of beaut}'. It has everj- advantage in point 
of economy, maintenance, repairs, supervision, intercommuni- 
cation, transportation, and accessibilit}' of the departments to 
each other and the public, as well as to the railroads and 
wharves. 

The 5'ear 1900 is the one hundredth anniversar}- of the estab- 
lishment of the seat of the Federal Government in Washington 
City. In taking suitable measures to commemorate this event 
a committee from each State held a meeting in Washington in 
the spring of 1900 and determined to advocate a boulevard 
through the Mall. 

The plans which were favored appear to be most unfortunate. 
It is proposed to run the boulevard diagonall}^ through the 
Mall to the proposed site of the Memorial Bridge, which is to 
cross the river to Arlington on the line of New York avenue. 
This plan would cut the Mall in a most unfortunate manner. 
Far worse, it appears to be the idea that the Government build- 
ings should in future be located along this boulevard in the 
park, destroying the beauty of the park and making practically 
another street without balance, symmetrj^, or good vistas. 

A few of the unfortunate effects produced hy the thoughtless 
location and character of the structures placed in the parks may 
be mentioned. The Army Medical Museum, with the rear and 
utilitarian portions of the building directlj^ on the principal 
driveway, suggests the back yard of a machine shop or factory 
(fig. 23), disagreeable in outline and color, marring permanently 
this beautiful portion of the park. It has been the habit as the 
departments have grown, in manj^ instances, to erect professedly 
temporarj^ structures, which, in fact, remain as permanent 
objects in discord with their surroundings. If such structures 
are necessarj^ they should be designed to be in keeping and 
form parts of the parks in which they are placed. In many 







''^'".-^' '' ^■- '-^ ( -'/ •'^'; '^ 



Fig. 28.— pleasing VIEW OF CAPITOL DOME. 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 63 

instances they are brick structures of a permanent character. 
The illustration gives an example of this character of archi- 
tectural treatment. 

The effectiveness of the parks and surroundings in connection 
with the buildings is shown by two views which are taken from 
the Capitol and Executive Mansion (figs. 17, 21, and 28). 
These views do not show the charm produced by the colors of 
the foliage and sky in connection with the buildings. The 
unfortunate effect of placing the buildings directly on the street 
line is shown b}^ a view of the Interior Department (Patent 
Office) and old United States Post-Office (fig. 29). 

We ma}^ mention in this connection the new post-ofiice at an 
angle to Pennsylvania avenue, a permanent object of regret. 

I have sketched out a general plan (map 4) with the idea 
of simpl}'- calling attention to the fact that a scheme for a boule- 
vard will not necessarily destroy the park, but enhance the 
effect and bring into harmony many of the beautiful structures 
already in existence. This plan contemplates the purchase of 
the property between the Mall and Penns3dvania avenue on the 
north of the park, and the purchase of the squares facing the 
park on the south. On this purchased property buildings could 
be erected facing the Mall on the north and south and facing 
Pennsylvania avenue on the south. Then a boulevard could run 
through the Mall from the Capitol grounds to the Monument, 
with the Capitol as the vista on the east and the Washington 
Monument as the western vista. Leaving the Monument, the 
boulevard could extend to the river and cross on the new Memo- 
rial Bridge to Arlington. The views (fig. 30 and 31) show 
the line of the suggested boulevard from the Monument to the 
river and from the Monument to the Capitol, while fig. 18 
shows the character of the park from the Monument to the 
Executive Mansion. 

The Monument not being on the central axis of the Mall when 
the property on the north and south, sides of the park had been 
acquired by the Government, it would be necessar}' to change 
the lines of B street on the north and south, so as to make the 
buildings on each side of the Mall equally distant from and 
parallel to the principal axis, thus making the streets parked 
driveways. 

JNIap 3 shows the Mall, together with the present location of 
roadways and Government buildings scattered in all directions, 



") 



64 Improvement of the City of Washington, 

in which there is not the sHghtest effort to obtain grandness of 
effect by massing these structures. 

In map 4 I have made a suggestive scheme of what could be 
accomphshed or of what might have been already accomplished 
if the money spent in the scattered structures had been used in 
carrying out a well-devised plan. 

Beginning at the foot of the Capitol grounds, first are proposed 
two groups of monumental fountains, then two squares are de- 
voted to statuary and monuments within formal gardens. The 
boulevard is intended to have a gradual rise and pass over the 
railroad tracks on Sixth street and the portion of Armory lot of 
which the railroad has possession. Over Sixth street and the 
adjoining park I would propose a colonnade of detached columns, 
together with thick planting, so as to screen the railroad and 
traffic from visitors in the park or upon the boulevard. Groups 
of statuary and commemorative columns along the boulevard 
would form appropriate ornaments on a stately avenue. 

The Monument at present, although an object of beauty in size, 
color, and proportion, when seen in connection with the changing 
aspects of the sky lacks ornamentation and interest, as well as 
something to give it scale when viewed from a near standpoint. 

I would propose a grand circular colonnade, 800 feet in diam- 
eter, surrounding the Monument, but detached therefrom, leav- 
ing a plaza between the colonnade and monument of more than 
700 feet in diameter. The colonnade contemplates seats around 
its whole circumference overlooking the plaza which surrounds 
the Monument. In this plaza formal parades, presentations. 
Presidential reviews, games, and other spectacular events could 
be viewed by the populace. The colonnade would seat from 
20,000 to 25,000 people. At the four roadwa5^s through the 
colonnade to the plaza, triumphal arches are placed, decorated 
with groups of statuary and emblematic carving (fig. 32). 

Flanking the triumphal arches on the east and west are placed 
two columns with appropriate figures on top. After passing 
the monument the scheme proposes to continue the boulevard 
with its statuary on either side to a point near the Potomac 
River, where another circular plaza surrounded by groups of 
statuary would form the entrance to the memorial bridge which 
it is contemplated will be built across the river to Arlington. 
This scheme changes slightly the proposed location of the 
bridge so as to bring it on the axis of the boulevard. The 



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*id i^ 










js: 



>r3 



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y , \ 









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Fig. 32.— suggested COLONNADE AND PLAZA AROUND THE MONUMENT. 



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s^^oSiV. 






*-M-:J^uiiJ^jj:i^.'-'^-^"'v-^: 












Fi3. 33.— SUGGESTED RAILROAD CROSSING. 



Improvement of the City of Washington, 65 

location selected hy the commission in charge of the proposed 
bridge was approved because the starting point was on higher 
ground. I think all will agree that the bridge, starting from a 
lower level, as proposed in ni}- plan, wnll be improved in appear- 
ance, as in this way it can gradually rise until it reaches its 
highest point near the center. By this treatment a graceful 
curved line to the top of the bridge will be obtained, the straight 
line being one of the deficiencies of the proposed design. The 
length of the bridge and the point from which it would start 
will give an ample opportunity for a gradual rise to its highest 
point. The vista down the boulevard with the Monument in 
the foreground and the Capitol with its beautiful dome as the 
end of the vista, flanked on either side by green trees and 
shrubbery, monuments and statuar}', could not but give a 
charming view. The shrubbery and trees immediately on the 
boulevard should be low, so as not to cut off the view of the 
objects of art along the parkway, but so placed as to give the 
color value which it might be considered desirable to obtain. 
The grounds of the Smithsonian Institution and the north por- 
tion of the Agricultural grounds, with their beautiful trees and 
shrubs, would not be tampered with except where the boule- 
vard ran through the center, thus leaving intact the most in- 
teresting features of these grounds. In other portions of the 
Mall which have not been planted, except to a limited extent, it 
would be proper to lay out the grounds in a more formal manner. 

The Government buildings located as proposed would each be 
in a park detached from the others, surrounded by grounds, 
thus giving an opportunity for all to view them and their 
approaches. This method would also give light and air to the 
occupants, and at the same time afford pleasing views to the 
workers within. The buildings would be near enough together 
to allow of quick communication and transportation betw^een one 
department and another. It is suggested that all buildings 
should be low and classical in design, to harmonize with the 
Capitol and Executive Mansion. 

It will probably be noticed that the National Museum, Med- 
ical Bureau, the Agricultural Department, and the new post- 
office are not shown on the sketch. Although the proposed 
scheme would not interfere with these buildings, it is felt that 
in any artistic grouping these structures would have no place 
and that they would eventually be removed. 

S. Doc. 94 5 



66 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

Several streets on which electric cars run, and which are used 
principally for traffic, must pass through the park. To cut off 
these disagreeable features it would be necessary to raise the 
boulevard slightl)^ and lower the streets a little at the points of 
•crossing. At the points where the boulevard would cross this 
■could be accomplished without great difficult}'. It would then 
be an eas}^ matter to screen the view of such streets b}' low walls 
and close planting of trees and bushes, as has been suggested in 
the plan shown. 

The tidal reservoir which is now located on the reclaimed 
ground would be turned into a formal basin, treated on three 
sides with a balustrade. In the northern portion could be 
placed a large group of fountains and statuary-, while the 
smaller basin could be treated in a classical design with steps 
and platform, which for six months in the year could be used as 
a swimming pool, and in the winter as a skating park. 

One of the most difficult problems in the artistic treatment of 
the Mall consists in the fact that the Pennsylvania Railroad with 
its numerous tracks runs through the grounds on Sixth street. 
It appears to be useless to attempt the removal of the road from 
its present position, and a bill is now pending which gives it a 
much wider slice from the park. The suggestion of elevating 
the boulevard and carrjnng the tracks under it, at the same time 
screening this disagreeable feature b}' a colonnade (fig. 33 ) and 
dense planting, is not in accordance with the idea of the railroad, 
which contemplates carr3dng the cars over the Mall on an elevated 
structure. To prevent such marring effects and destruction of 
the vista it would appear to be practicable to carry the tracks 
under the boulevard at their present level and allow them to 
rise gradually to the elevated structure which is contemplated 
in the southern part of the city. Another method presents 
itself, that of placing the depot on the south of the boulevard 
with an entrance at the Boulevard level and other entrances 
below on the street level. Then all street-car lines, cabs, and 
heavy traffic could pass down Seventh street, turn under the 
boulevard, and out through Sixth street. The road might be 
given more space in width and less in length, with a low colon- 
naded structure as a depot on the boulevard and the rear por- 
tion screened by planting. In this case the general effect would 
be but slightly marred and the convenience of access to the 
.station not affected. 




Fig. 47.— fountain DE MEDICIS, LUXEMBOURG GARDEN, PARIS. 



Improvement of the City of Washington . 67 

The effectiveness of vistas and intelligent grouping is well 
illustrated b}^ some of the results attained abroad. The har- 
mon}' of buildings and their surroundings are shown in the 
I^ouvre and the Place du Carrousel (fig. 34), in the Place de la 
Concorde and its surrounding buildings (fig. 35), La Place Ven- 
dome with its column and buildings (fig. 36), the Trocadero 
with the Seine and bridge (fig. 37), and in the garden of the 
Palais Royal (fig. 38). 

A remarkable and harmonious grouping of the classic with 
the picturesque is shown in the treatment of the parks and 
valley in Edinburgh, Scotland (figs. 39 and 40). The beauties 
of a combination of fountains, statuar}', and formal gardening 
are well illustrated in the views of the Place de la Concorde 
(fig. 41), the fountains of Versailles (figs. 16 and 49), one 
from Cologne (fig. 42), and a terrace unknowni to the author 

(fig- 43)- 

The beauties of extended avenues are shown in the Champs- 
Elysees (fig. 27), and in the parked way leading from the Lux- 
embourg (fig. 44) as well as in the magnificent parked openings 
leading up to the palaces of Versailles and Fontainebleau (figs. 
16 and 48). The beauty of a combination of architectural fea- 
tures of beaut}^ and interest add wonderfully to the effectiveness 
and interest of the landscape, as is shown b}' the Colonnade 
in Park Monceau (fig. 45), the Temple d'Esculapio, Villa 
Borghese, Rome (fig. 46), and the Fountain de Medicis in the 
Luxembourg Garden (fig. 47). 

Many of these views show how the introduction of water in 
the form of lakes, streams, and cascades enhance the beaut}' of the 
scene by selection of the foliage and architectural features, as 
well as by the graceful lines of water jets and the life and music 
of moving water. 

Adjoining the Mall on the south and on a line with the 
Monument the Government has acquired, by reclaiming marsh 
land, a park area of about 700 acres. From the Mall roadway's 
would pass directly into this riverside park. With its broad 
sheets of water on either side and the unbroken views from its 
shores of Virginia and Marjdand, this park would lend itself to 
a treatment of broad and quiet effects — large, unbroken surfaces 
in connection with the water views, treated in a natural manner. 
Passing from the Mall on the north, at the point of the proposed 
memorial bridge, thence along Twenty-fifth street, which could 



68 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

be parked, the street could make a drivewaj^ to Massachusetts 
avenue. At this point the roadway could descend into Rock 
Creek Vallej^ and along this valley to the National Zoological 
and Rock Creek parks. The combined area of these parks is 
something less than 2,000 acres. The picturesque qualities of 
this valley are not surpassed b}' any similar area adjoining a 
city in this country. It has bold and rugged cliffs, magnificent 
trees, bits of rolling country, a limited number of large, open, 
comparatively level tracts, and Rock Creek, a beautiful stream, 
runs through it for a distance of about seven miles. 

Figs. 50, 51, and 52 show natural views in the Zoological Park. 

Running as it does through a country in which are numerous 
outcroppings of rock, this stream forms many and picturesque 
rapids and falls as it passes over bowlders and between and 
around rocky cliffs. As a contrast, however, it often spreads 
out into broad and calm sheets of water, which reflect the 
varjdng colors of the trees and foliage upon its banks. 

I think nothing should be allowed in the Zoological or Rock 
Creek Park of a formal character; all artificial work should 
conform and harmonize with nature; the opening of paths, 
roads, and vistas, so designed and arranged as to display and 
enhance its natural beauties, is the ovXy treatment that should 
be allowed. To illustrate my idea on this portion of the sub- 
ject I give a few illustrations of artificial work which I have 
had the pleasure of designing and executing, in an effort to 
make them harmonize with the surroundings, and in as many 
cases as possible make the artificial work appear as natural 
outcroppings of nature (figs. 53, 54, 55, and 56). 

To sum up the foregoing suggestions: 

I. Group in a more or less formal way all new buildings for 
the Government on the north and south of the Mall, with a for- 
mal Boulevard running through the center, on which, or visible 
from which, shall be all fountains, statues, and memorial work, 
with the Capitol, the Monument, and the memorial bridge as 
the three points of principal interest, thus making a memorial 
boulevard. Preserve all vistas and make others so they will not 
interfere with ones already existing. Build sufficient Govern- 
ment buildings, so that unsightly temporary or rented struc- 
tures will not be necessary on the park or scattered throughout 
the cit5\ 

II. Treat the riverside park, which has been reclaimed, so 




Fig. 50.— natural SCENERY, NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 




X 




Fig. 55.— log BRIDGE, NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 69 

that the broad effects of river and distant views will not be 
belittled b}^ trivial landscape work or buildings. 

III. Treat the Zoological and Rock Creek parks onl}' in the 
most picturesque manner, so the people can see and enjo}' their 
man)' natural beauties, manj- of which can be easily destroyed 
by careless road making, badh' designed bridges, and retaining 
walls. These parks will require man}' such artificial structures 
in opening them up so that the people ma}' enjoj' them. 

To bring about a satisfactor}^ result it appears to me that a 
carefully selected commission of architects, sculptors, and land- 
scape architects should be given charge of the subject — men in 
love with art and nature and having pride in the capital of 
their country. 



SCULPTURE IN WASHINGTON. 



By H. K. Bush-Brown, Sciilptor. 



In considering sculpture in Washington our limited time 
will permit us to treat of onl}^ its relations to the monuments 
and architecture of the citj^ We shall, therefore, not attempt 
to speak of its other interests, however important they may be 
as part of the art of our country, and we shall consider only 
the outdoor aspect of things as we would have them. 

It is not strange that until recently sculpture has had a pre- 
carious and ill-favored existence in this country. When we see 
what has come from the chisels of the granite cutters at the 
quarries, and some of the bronzes of the commercial foundries, 
it is quite natural for the discriminating mind to turn from 
their contemplation with an impression that there is no artistic 
feeling among our people, and that American subjects can not 
be treated in a monumental way. Fortunatel}^, we have a few 
examples of good sculpture that have illumined the barren 
wastes of the past and shed a bright ray of hope over the path 
of the future. I will not mention them. The good things 
will abide with us, and the bad things we should try to forget 
in our efforts to bring about a better understanding of the func- 
tions of sculpture, and a better appreciation of the motives of 
the profession. 

The ideals are what make life worth the living, and, taken as 
individuals or as nations, those people who have the highest 
ideals attain the greatest results, and, I believe, the most happi- 
ness. We erect monuments to keep alive in the mind of the 
community the ideals that have moved the souls of men in the 
past, lest in the enjoyment of the present blessings we forget 
the valor and self-sacrifice which alone made their attainment 
possible. Public monuments, then, are intended to have a sacred 
70 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 71 

moral influence, which, if properly expressed, will endure so 
long as bronze or stone may last, and the soul of man remains 
responsive to eternal love. In other words, the value of a work 
of art is measured by its moral effect. Good art is a means of 
education and elevation, and its influence is dependent on the 
conception of the idea and the manner in which the artist 
expresses his thought. 

This leads us to call attention to the relation that monuments 
should bear to history. Since, as we have said, the use of mon- 
uments is to educate the people, it must follow that in the selec- 
tion of subjects for public monuments we should choose the 
important and inspiring events to be commemorated, and also 
arrange them in groups to form a coordinate and complete 
whole. In other w^ords, they should illustrate the important* 
events of our history by beautiful and inspiring creations of 
form or color. 

Commendable as are the monuments in Washington, do we 
find that any plan of selecting subjects or grouping them has 
been adopted? No; quite the contrar}-; both of these funda- 
mentally important things have been left entirely to chance. 
The result is before us; the important things of our historjr 
have been neglected and the unimportant made prominent,, 
while the distribution has been so free as apparently to have no 
other object than to fill the vacant spaces. 

The cit}' is itself a monument to the Declaration of Independ- 
ence and the Constitution, and by its very name commemorates 
a high ideal of manhood. It is among the verj" few — I was go- 
ing to say it is the only city in the country that was planned 
with the idea of having its public buildings well placed. Unfor- 
tunately, some earl}' and some later mistakes have been made in 
placing public buildings b}' which the harmon}' which might 
have been attained has been lost and some spaces that have 
been reserved for monuments have been unwisel}' used. 

Let me illustrate what I mean. The State, War, and Navy 
Department is the home of three Executive Departments, with 
no sculpture on or near the building to give it a distinctive char- 
acter. On the other side of the cit}' is the nav3'-3'ard, where one 
may see a phase of the work-a-day life of the Navy with no 
sculpture to make the place anything more than factory-like in 
its appearance. In the residence quarter of the city are isolated 
statues of army and na^-y heroes, the placing of which have 



72 Improvement of the City of Washing to7i, 

little relation to each other or their surroundings, and at the 
end of Penns3'lvania avenue, at the main approach from the 
city to the Capitol, we have a monument to honor the Ami}" 
and Navy, known as the Peace Monument. Without reflecting 
on its merits, it is safe to say that that particular spot is not 
the place for that kind of a monument. This approach to the 
Capitol should be treated as such in a way to add dignity to 
the building behind it, and be a proper feature to what is prac- 
tically a terminus to Penns3'lvania avenue. 

Assuming that this monument is all that could be desired, and 
that it occupied a suitable place, then grouped about it in some 
way might be statues of all the great statesmen and commanders 
who brought about the peace which the monument commemo- 
*rates. Of course, this maj^ not be the best thing to do in this 
particular case, but it is sufficientl}' characteristic of the general 
needs of Washington to illustrate vay meaning. 

Washington, more than any other cit}' in the world, is a city 
of homes. Commerce and manufacturing never have had, and 
probably never will have, much of a footing here. For this 
reason it has greater opportunities for embellishment than an}" 
other cit3\ However picturesque some features of industrial 
equipment may be, factory chimne3's and their surroundings do 
not generall}^ contribute to beautify the modern world. In this 
respect, then, Washington is unique, and has possibilities that 
are quite her own. I^et us look about a little and see what use 
has been made o'f these possibilities. Aside from the decorative 
groups on the Capitol, and some of the other buildings, our 
monuments are mostly military. Although it ma)- well be said 
that in militar}" prowess we have proven ourselves second to no 
other nation, yet it is in the arts of peace that we excel all other 
peoples. 

First of all our experiment of government has proven the 
most successful of any yet tried, and has modified man's social 
relations in all civihzed cotintries. As I have said, the cit}" 
itself, with its Capitol, is the monument to those ideals. But 
Avhere are the monuments to those American creations that have 
revolutionized the world — the railroad, the telegraph, the cotton 
gin, the reaper, the sewing machine, the marine cable, and the 
telephone, etc.? 

In the field of science have we had oijl}^ Benjamin Franklin 
and Professor Henry and De Gross worthy of commemoration 



Improvement of the City of Washington, 73 

in our capital city ? And where are the monuments to our great 
statesmen that should find their place with those of Webster, 
Lincoln, and Garfield? American poets and historians have had 
great honor accorded to their memor)' in other than their own 
countrj^ and capital. 

Turning now to examine our militar}^ monuments in detail, 
we find that more than half of them commemorate events of the 
civil war. While the)- are all deserving of the attention be- 
stowed on them, should we not also have a care for our earlier 
histor}' ? 

In seeing the Farragut statue we naturally inquire, where are 
those of Paul Jones, Decatur, and Hull? We have a monument 
to Lafa5'ette, but he was not a more important personage than 
Steuben, and of our American born Revolutionar}' heroes onl}- 
Washington and Greene have been remembered here. 

We might spend much time on this question of subject, but 
we must say something for architectural sculpture; some of the 
earl)- efforts in this direction, as seen on the Capitol building, 
can not be said to have done much for the glory of American art. 

The new lyibrar}- building, however, was the greatest chance 
our generation has had for decorative painting and sculpture. 
The)- have made that building the great attraction of Wash- 
ington, and with all due respect to the architectural profession, 
by far the larger part of the interest that the public has in the 
Librar)^ is centered in the sculpture and mural decorations. 
This interest is out of proportion to the cost of those decora- 
tions, which was only 7 per cent of the total. I wish to make 
a point of this, because it is customary to economize on the 
decorations of our public buildings, whereas this 7 per cent of 
the expenditure is really a most important part of the whole 
outla5^ 

Since this one good example of architectural embellishment 
has been placed in Washington, the architects will find it easier 
to obtain such for the public buildings of the future. Its 
appreciation is an evidence that our people now recognize that 
sculpture and painting vitalize architecture and interpret its 
meaning and motive to the public. 

Now, we should have a word for the relation that one monu- 
ment should bear to another. The mind receives a more lasting 
impression if ideas are presented to it in some consecutive order. 
The best artistic effects of public monuments and buildings have 
been produced by proper grouping, so that one thing enhances 



74 hnprovemejit of the City of Washington. 

the value of another by its proximity. Just what sort of group- 
ing should be adopted for Washington, so as to maintain the 
existent monuments in their present positions, it would be 
difficult to sa3^ without giving it very careful study. 

It is evident, however, that some plan of a very definite 
character should be adopted so that ultimately a better arrange- 
ment may be developed. An}^ such plan must aim at either 
chronological order or grouping as to subject, and perhaps for 
both of these. 

If the suggestion for a new avenue should be carried out on 
the scale that has been demonstrated, it would present an oppor- 
tunity that would forever solve this problem and bring order 
out of chaos at once. No other city in the world, so far as I 
know, could boast of anything so impressively beautiful as this 
might be made. 

The Champs-Elysees has no such building as our Capitol to 
fill the vista. This greatest of buildings has a right to have a 
monumental approach. Washington has a right to the finest 
avenue in the world. The American people have a right to it 
by reason of what they are ; and, lastly, by reason of what they 
have been, we can draw on American history for the inspiration 
that will make its sculptural decoration most artistic. 

Desirable and pleasing as it is to have sculpture in the public 
squares and open places of a city, this general plan for the im- 
provement of Washington permits of greater possibilities for the 
sculpture of the future. It is in having the buildings so grouped 
and designed and the surroundings so planned as will allow the 
placing of the monuments that they may form a part of or be 
adjuncts to the architecture. Both would be enhanced in value 
thereby. 

From a purely business standpoint it is possible to demon- 
strate the investment value of monumental art of any country 
and any city. For a national capital there is a higher and 
nobler motive for making it beautiful. It is the official home 
of the people. Its capital city should be an expression of their 
ideals of patriotism and humanity, their courage and aspirations. 
Art made Athens and Rome and Florence and Venice, each in 
turn, the center of the world. 

In our own day art has made Paris the great center of attrac- 
tion, and now Berlin is becoming its rival. What art may do 
for Washington we have only begun to realize. Fortunately we 



Improvement of the City of WasJmigioti. 75 

began aright, and in the Capitol and its situation we have the 
finest building of its kind in the world. We have in Washing- 
ton one of the finest city plans in the world. Now in the thresh- 
old of its second century, with assured peace and prosperity, it 
becomes a duty of our people to take advantage of all its natural 
and artificial resotirces and make it the grandest city in the 
world. 

As the United States leads the nations in all other things, it is 
natural to suppose that she will ultimately lead the world in the 
realms of art also. It depends much on the attitude of the Gov- 
ernment toward that side of our national development. 

At the Chicago World's Fair the workers in the allied profes- 
sions of architecture, painting, and sculpture demonstrated that 
we have in America untold latent strength for artistic expression. 
This has manifested itself again in the Naval Arch in New York, 
and when the nation invites the artists to create for Washington 
a more logical and artistic appearance, I am sure they \\\\\ prove 
themselves equal to this greatest of opportunities. 

Before closing, I want to say a word for the relation of the 
artist to his emploj^er. Sculpture has suffered much in this 
country from misdirected good intentions. With the best motives 
in the world, a committee having charge of funds for a monu- 
ment starts out to get the best the3' can for the money, and 
usually confess they are in no waj^ capable of judging of w'hat 
is good art. 

They are wise if they spend a j^ear or more in educating 
themselves, and the^^ usually do this at the expenditure of time 
and thought on the part of a few, or many, artists, as the case 
maj' be. The result is as uncertain as the mind of the committee. 

So far as the Government is concerned, the}' have relegated 
the management of their sculpture to the War Department, 
simply because the placing of foundations in public grounds in 
Washington comes under the jurisdiction of the Engineer Corps. 
Military men and statesmen of distinction may justly be con- 
sidered as authorities in their own separate fields of thought. 
To judge of military- tactics and national policies requires long 
years of training and experience. Is it too much to assume 
that art is worthy of the same consideration? The principle 
that all contracts should be accessible to every citizen has 
resulted in competitions, yet it is the consensus of opinion 
among the artists that the best work is not obtained in this way. 



76 Impt'ovement of the City of Washington. 

The sculptors whose reputations bring them all the work thej^ 
can do have neither time nor inclination to enter into competi- 
tions, however wise the judgment of the merits of the work 
submitted ma}^ be. The principal justification is in the oppor- 
tunity that competitions give to an unknown genius to show 
"^vhat he can do and perhaps gain recognition. 

It seems to me it should be so arranged that every man who 
had attained the first rank in the profession would have one 
chance to make an important work for the national capital. 
Would not this one opportunit}', which would come to each com- 
petent individual when he had attained his best strength of 
mature years, be a greater thing to work for and wait for than 
the brilliant winning of a competition in the earl}^ j'ears of pro- 
fessional life? 

On the other hand, would not such an arrangement result in 
greatl}^ improving the artistic standard of the monuments of this 
cit}^ by reason, not only of having the best men employed, but 
also because it would be the greatest opportunity of an artist's 
life, and offered in such a way as to leave him entirel}^ free to 
do his best? 

Michael Angelo once competed with Bandinelli for the privi- 
lege of making the statue of Hercules for the cit}- of Florence. 
Bandinelli had the social influence and obtained the contract, 
but I doubt if there are three people in this room who can call 
to mind his group that stands on the Piazza Signoria in "Flor- 
ence. The terra-cotta sketch that Michael Angelo made for it 
is in the British Museum, and, though it is only lo inches high 
and has lost its head and arms, it is artisticall)^ worth a thou- 
sand times more than the lo-foot group in Florence. It was 
after someone else had failed that Michael Angelo was intrusted 
with the marble from which he cut the David. I only mention 
these two cases to illustrate that others besides Americans in 
this age have suffered from the bad effects of competitions. 

Recently we have had a number of competitions among the 
architects for important Government buildings. Frequently 
over twenty men of acknowledged talent worked many months 
on their plans, and more than once have these competitions ended 
in considerable bad feeling over the decisions. It seems to me 
that men of their ability ought not to be asked by the Govern- 
ment to waste their energies on chances of being successful over 
twenty competitors. The Government is doing work enough to 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 77 

employ each one of them at some important building before 
many years pass. This, however, is out of my field. The 
Tarsney act, under which these competitions were held, is a 
great improvement on the methods that obtained before, and I 
know that many architects are contented with it because the 
results that have been obtained by its application are, as yet, 
quite satisfactory. 

The time ma)- come when the architects are sufficiently strong 
and sufficiently united to enforce a better way for the Govern- 
ment to seek and find men of talent. The spirit of our civiliza- 
tion would suggest that the selection of artists for Government 
employ might be by vote of a large group of thg prominent men 
in the profession for one of their own number. The group to 
be changed each time. Or it might be left to the vote of some 
well-recognized society like the x\merican Institute of Architects, 
the Sculpture Society, etc. , as the case might require. 

An effort has been made latel}' to improve the situation by 
having an art commission appointed which would have full juris- 
diction over all public buildings, monuments, and coinage 
designs. It was all very carefulh" arranged, but just lacked 
being practical for the reason that the duties of the commission 
would be very heavy, practicall}- occupying its whole time, and, 
as they were to be men otherwise actively employed, and to 
serve without pay, it would have been too much to ask of them. 
Perhaps some modification of this maj- be put in force to give to 
painters and sculptors at least a better footing than the}' now" 
have. 

In this connection I would like to call attention to the fact 
that the sculpture and painting of the Congressional I^ibrar}- is 
truly representative of the best art of its period, because it was 
not obtained b}' competitions but was let by the architect to 
representative artists in the countrj^ through the advice, I believe, 
of the presidents of the mural painters and sculpture societies. 

However, some method should be found by which we ma^' 
secure for the national capital the best art that our people 
can produce. Every nation has its owm responsibilitj^ for the 
presentation of its best work, and everj- American citizen has a 
right to expect the Government to secure, for public buildings, 
monuments, and painting, the best art that each generation can 
produce. In this way onl)^ can Washington be the true capital 
and the true representative of the genius of American thought. 



[Discussion following the papers read before the Institute.] 

GROUPING OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND DEVELOP- 
MENT OF WASHINGTON. 



By Cass Gilbert, F. A. I. A. 



Order and s^^stem, a high state of organization, are elemental 
conditions of government. These conditions pervade all phases 
of the service. The relation of departments is not fortuitous, 
but definite, organic, and in a sense mechanical. The city is 
part of the mechanism. The departmental buildings, the Cap- 
itol, the White House, are details of this machinery. Their 
excuse for existing is that they are so. The arrangement of 
this machinery should not be left to whim, chance, or to the 
incident of temporarj^ control. The founders of the Government 
recognized this, and Washington himself was foremost in putting 
it into effect. It needs no argument; it is self-evident when 
stated. Nor does the acceptance of such conditions impl}- naked 
utilitarianism. On the contrary, they are the first elements in 
anj^ grand scheme. 

The prevalence of a definite and organized plan does not imply 
that it shall be so fixed in its details that it can not be changed. 
It should, in fact, be so broadly conceived that there w^ould be 
room for development. It should be pliable and elastic, not 
rigid. 

A city planned on such a noble scale as that of Washington 
is rare in the w^orld. It is almost unique. One hundred years 
of use has demonstrated its merit. The plan of its founders 
should be maintained as the basis of future development. 
That it could be improved in some directions is doubtless true, 
but as a basis from which such improvement shall begin it is 
admirable. 
78 



Improvement of the City of Washington. 79 

I think all will agree on the following general principles of 
design : 

First. Main vistas should not be too great. Mere distance is 
not fine. The width of a street or avenue should have a pro- 
portion to its length or to the distance between its main points 
of accent. A due proportion must be maintained to the height 
and length of the structures which come within the scope of any 
vista. (The south end of the Treasury', as seen from the Capitol, 
is an example. I^arge as it is, it is still too small to count from 
so great a distance.) 

Second. A grand scheme with great focal points is not alone 
sufficient. There is room for infinite variet}^ of treatment on 
the minor axes. 

Third. A curved street offers relativelj^ as fine effects as a 
straight one, but should be broader. 

Fourth. Var3'ing grades form no real obstacle to architectural 
beauty. 

Fifth. Buildings should be grouped, not scattered. 

Sixth. Buildings should be placed on streets, boulevards, or 
public squares, not in parks; but all buildings are enhanced by 
foliage, and by suitable approaches in which gardening is an 
important part. 

Seventh. The buildings should be monumental and serious in 
type and preferabl}^ of so-called classic style. 

Eighth. The height of a building should bear a relation to 
the length of its facade, and all buildings should be proportioned 
to the width of street or avenue. When placed in succession 
along a great street, the height of buildings should be uniform. 
There should be established points of accent and the length of 
buildings should be duly proportioned to the length of the vista. 
(The Ringstrasse in Vienna and the Rue de Rivoh in Paris are 
good examples.) 

Ninth. Buildings of necessarilj'- great prominence or height 
should be placed as focal points on ' ' axes ' ' of streets, and should 
form definite composition with other buildings. Otherwise they 
mar the scheme, because intrusive, and destroy the scale of all 
around them. (The Washington post-office exempHfies what 
should be avoided, irrespective of its bad design.) 

Tenth. The n^imber of stories in a montimental building should 
be limited to three, if possible; never more than four. (The 
Capitol itself is a good example.) 



8o Improvement of the City of Washington. 

Eleventh. Color is almost as important an element as form. 
Light and shade not less so. 

A building of brick in a street of granite or marble, unrelieved 
by foliage and without transitional color, is a note out of harmony, 
and conversely. Either may be fine in its proper environment. 

Twelfth. Massive masonr}^ approaches to buildings are effect- 
ive only in relation to facades of great extent, like the west 
front of the Capitol. (The masonry and steps in front of the 
Congressional Library are too complex and too extensive. ) The 
approaches to a residential building like the White House should 
be less formal, and should not be composed of great masses of 
masonry, though outlying terrace walls and balustrades may 
well be used. 

The foregoing statement of "principles" involves no new 
idea, but may serve to guide in the general consideration of the 
subject. The accompanying sketch plan will serve as a sugges- 
tion of what might be done in the general plan of development. 
(Map No. 5.) 

Taking the Capitol as the main point of interest, I would 
preserve the park-like character of the Mall, except at the west 
end near the Monument. I would construct a great boulevard 
extending from the Capitol to the Monument. The great dis- 
tance from the Capitol to the Monument would permit the 
swinging of the axis of the boulevard so that the Monument 
would be central on this axis, and it would not be noticeable 
that the boulevard did not approach the Capitol at an exact 
right angle, especially if the boulevard were made wider at the 
westerly end, so that its converging lines would conduce to 
the optical illusion. 

I would frankly accept the fact that the Monument is off 
axis with the White House, and would place at an equal dis- 
tance from its axis a low but very large important monument, 
richly adorned with sculpture of grandiose scale and acting as a 
foil for the Monument itself. This might be assumed to com- 
memorate other great founders of the Republic, and grouped 
around the base of it should be monuments of great scale, but 
of lesser proportions, forming memorials of heroic deeds and of 
great men. I would then terminate the vista from the White 
House by a group of buildings to be used as military, naval, and 
historical museums similar in purpose, perhaps, to the museum 
of the Hotel Des InvaHdes in Paris or the Zeughaus in Berlin. 



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Memorial Bridge. 
Proposed new ^Vllite House. 
Proposed new Department buildings. 
Proposed monument to Founders of 

Republic. 
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buildings. 
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Improvement of the City of Washington. 8i 

Assuming the old White House to remain as the center of the 
executive business of the Government and to be used as the 
office of the President, I should locate the departmental build- 
ings near it, in the order in which the business of the various 
Departments would be most convenienth- accommodated. Plac- 
ing the executive branches of the Government on the east side 
of Fifteenth street and thence down to. the Mall, I would form 
a great group of such buildings around a grand square at the 
west end of the Mall, and connect these buildings so as to pro- 
vide, as far as possible, for the convenience of business. The 
flanking masses of these structures, thrown forward and inter- 
rupting the vista at either side as one looks from the Monument 
to the Capitol, or to the White House, or vice versa, in either 
direction, would be effective in the general composition. 

On the west side of Seventeenth street I should form a spe- 
cial group of buildings for the scientific and educational depart- 
ments of the Government, extending from Seventeenth street 
opposite the Executive grounds to New York and Virginia 
avenues. 

The memorial bridge should be placed on the axis of New 
York avenue. The deflection from this axis, proposed in recent 
plans, would be most unfortunate in appearance. The space 
from the Monument to the river should largel)^ be taken up by 
a great open place suitable for military reviews and public fetes, 
with colonnades at the west end, providing sheltered prome- 
nades with views of the river, bridge, parade ground, and 
through the vista to the east toward the Capitol. 

No buildings should be placed within 500 feet of the Monu- 
ment, and even a greater distance would be preferable, as its 
great height would certainly disturb the scale of any structure 
placed nearer it. 

I deprecate any attempt to change the old White House. It 
is a historic monument, and should it be changed we would 
lo.se it as such and impair the value of the proposed improve- 
ments. A new White House is needed and should be built. 

Such a project as the development of Washington can not be 
determined without months of careful thought and studj^, and 
should be under the charge of an able, intelligent board of men 
especiall}^ fitted for the work — men whose training would lead 
them to consider the aesthetic as w^ell as the material and 
economic conditions. 

S. Doc. 94 6 



82 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

The discussion of this subject before the American Institute 
of Architects is of great interest. We find that the views of 
men who are speciaHsts in architecture, sculpture, and landscape 
work are, after all, harmonious, and that they are working to 
the same end. The practical result of such discussion is in- 
creased when men who are experienced in the working out of 
such great problems come in contact with the men who deal 
with them from the legislative and administrative standpoint. 

All citizens of our country have a pride in the capital city, 
and are sincerely interested in any project which would make 
it more beautiful. They equally resent anything that would 
impair or destroy the beautj^ it now has. Public opinion 
readily and safely forms itself on the knowledge it receives from 
specialists, and, as a rule, men in responsible positions — the law- 
making power — seek such information, and are ovXy anxious 
that it shall be from authoritative sources and free from selfish 
interest or prejudice. See with what eagerness Washington 
himself, accomplished engineer that he was, called to his aid the 
services of ly' Enfant and Hallet, thus in the very founding of 
the city seeking the best professional advice available, and adopt- 
ing the noble scheme upon which the city is planned. 

We hope that the example of Washington and his collabora- 
tors will not be overlooked b}'' this later generation, and that 
what they founded will be nobly perpetuated. 



EXPOSITION ARCHITECTURE IN ITS RELATION TO 
THE GROUPING OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. 



By George Oaki^ey Totten, Jr., A. M., A. A. I. A. 



There are few examples in the historj^ of the world where 
any verj" con.siderable number of government or municipal 
buildings have been erected upon a preconceived comprehensive 
plan. The reasons for this have been either the lack of fore- 
thought as to the necessity of preparing such a scheme, or, 
where one has been devised, its lack of realization during the 
lifetime of its originators; the succeeding generations losing 
sight of the original idea, or, in the light of their own superi- 
ority, abandoning it for some new one of their own. We find 
here in Washington a case in point — the original idea of the 
founders of the city was for a long time forgotten. 

It is true that in Europe manj^ of the great cities have 
admirably arranged groups of buildings — as, for instance, those 
on the Place de la Concorde at Paris; still these are few in 
number as we conceive our great vision of the coming America. 
The many other cases that could be cited are but little more 
extended. Consequenth', experience can be drawn to but a 
limited extent from existing precedent, and it is to the schools 
of architecture that we must turn for study, notably to the 
drawings of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and the Grand Prix de 
Rome. 

Another course has, howeVer, been recentl}' opened to us, 
where much more serviceable and far more practical experience 
is to be gained. It is in the stud}^ of the modern expositions. 
While the great international and interstate expositions are pri- 
marily commercial enterprises, they have developed to such an 
overwhelming extent that their housing and setting has become, 
certainly to the architect and the great mass of people as well, 
of far greater importance than their wonderful exhibits. 

■ 85 



84 Improvement of the City of Washhigton. 

These great exhibitions have done more than anything else 
toward opening the ej'es of the world to the necessity of a pre- 
conceived and properly studied plan for the arrangement of an}^ 
group of buildings whatsoever. This has come as timely expe- 
rience for our new and undeveloped countr}', since it has given 
us an opportunity for study and experiment hitherto unknown. 

In our Chicago experience we learned lessons — what vistas 
meant, what uniform scale meant, how effectively broad ter- 
races, balustrades, and other accessories become, how the value 
of architecture is enhanced hy reflection in suitabh' arranged 
water basins — and later, at Omaha, the value of a fixed modulus. 

The grouping of government buildings would, though in a 
more restricted sense, follow the same natural laws as in the 
grouping of exposition buildings; the more important ones would 
be made the more monumental and dignified and given the most 
prominent locations— vista terminations where possible; lesser 
ones arranged along avenues somewhat according to their needs 
and uses, leading up to the former or to other monuments of 
special interest. 

From what has been done in exposition planning, the advan- 
tages of the hollow or open cotirt, over an arrangement with a 
monument of some size in the center seem conclusive. Thus we 
see the great court of honor of Chicago with oxAy a lake in its 
center — a mirror reflecting the beauties of its surroundings. 
This is in reality an open court, for the side toward the lake is 
closed only by a colonnade. The same scheme was carried out 
at Omaha, while at Buffalo this court is preceded by one — whose 
axis is at right angles to it — much more open and magnificent 
in scheme than either of the others. The difference in level, 
too, adds to its impressiveness. 

If the grand effects of the White City were not equaled at 
Paris last summer, it is hardly owing to defects of planning. A 
direct comparison of the two expositions is impossible — it is the 
comparing of things unlike — a 25-foot city house, for instance, 
with a countrj^ house open on all sides. 

At Paris there was given an irregular site with so many 
feet of floor area for exposition purposes demanded. How could 
the arrangement have been more rational? The formal build- 
ings, as far as possible, were put upon the great squares, the 
lesser ones along the Seine, crowded from necessity, but 
picturesque withal. 



Improvement of the Oily of Washington. 85 

If such enormous floor areas had not been demanded, the great 
open court palace on the Champ de Mars could have been broken 
up into smaller ones — attached only \iy colonnades or otherwise — 
the counter horizontal lines, always pleasing, would then have 
been apparent. But this was not possible, practicall3^ The next 
best thing, however, was done. The court was diminished in 
width at different points as it receded, thus increasing the per- 
spective. The vista thus afforded was terminated at the end by 
the gorgeous chateau d'eau. 

The vista in the opposite direction, that toward the Trocadero, 
recalls another and most important point in monumental plan- 
ning — that of levels. Variations in levels of a new site should 
not be a cause of regret; the}' open new and varied possibili- 
ties, which should be seen and grasped. Grades should not be 
slurred over, but accepted, accentuated, and formalized by means 
of steps, terraces, and balustrades. How much finer this Tro- 
cadero vista, beautiful as it is, would be with a few resting places 
or platforms and some formal treatment of steps. 

Theoreticall}' the palaces of the Esplanade des Invalides are 
well planned, but in reality thej^ seem so close together as to 
almost touch. This is not the case with the Palaces of Fine 
Arts on the other side of the Seine — the two palaces complement 
each other. The scale of parts throughout is well preser\'ed, 
except in the overwhelming mass of roof of the Grand Palais. 
In point of plan and arrangement, however, all this part of the 
exposition is ver}' beautiful. 

Attention can onh' be called in passing to the great and beau- 
tiful part the landscape gardening must play in any grand group- 
ing of buildings. The exquisite taste and care shown b}' the 
French landscape gardener at the Paris Exposition can not be 
too highly praised, and is well worthy of careful study. 

The earlier exhibitions are more especially interesting in show- 
ing the strides that have been made in exposition architecture. 

The various materials used for exposition buildings and the 
smaller and more picturesque grouping being irrelevant, we can 
not touch upon here. 

But to return for a moment to Washington. What an irrep- 
arable loss it was to our citj^ and the nation not to have held 
the great Columbian Exposition here on our Mall and river 
front. It would have given us a chance to experiment with 
full-size models on the verv sites chosen bv the founders of the 



86 Improvement of the City of Washington, 

city for our great public buildings. It would have been the 
grandest of object lessons, and would have immediately assured 
the fulfillment of the original preconceived scheme. 

But ly' Enfant had not the data in his day to more than indi- 
cate or outline his scheme. It is handed down to us in a very 
undeveloped condition, and those of our friends who are talking 
of a grand boulevard through the Mall are taking, it seems to 
me, but a partial view of the situation. 

It is perhaps fortunate that the great scheme was for so long 
a time forgotten, as it leaves the problem still open. 

Our country has passed the first struggling period of its 
infancy, and in the second century of its existence it finds itself 
in a better position to grasp the magnitude and grandeur of the 
problem than at any period since its foundation. It finds, too, 
within its doors a host of talented architects, trained and educated 
by foreign travel and study in the great schools of the world. 

What would be a more auspicious moment than the present — 
during this centennial year — for the revival and proper develop- 
ment of this great scheme? The appointment of a commission 
and the opening of a mere boulevard is not enough; it is the 
moment to consider and plan more broadly; to institute a great 
national competition so far-reaching and magnanimous in its con- 
struction as to inspire the best efforts of our most talented men. 

This general scheme would include all that ground between 
Penns54vania and Maryland avenues and the river front. 

American architects, let it be remembered, were responsible 
for the arrangement of the expositions at Chicago, at Omaha, 
at Buffalo— these were mere passing shows. How much grander 
and more impressive could a grouping of substantial, dignified 
Government buildings be made. A magnificent opportunity is 
before us. Let us work and make it a realization. 

In closing I beg to acknowledge my indebtedness to the 
inspiring writings of Mr. Glenn Brown. It is to Mr. Brown, I 
believe, more than to any other one person we are indebted for 
the revival of Major ly' Enfant' s beautiful scheme. 

The accompanying sketch is but an elaboration of the original 
scheme, and following Mr. Brown's idea of placing the boule- 
vard on the axis of the Capitol and Monument. It is not, 
however, a finished study; it is but a hasty sketch based upon 
the architecture of the exposition, and is intended only to show 
one of a thousand treatments which might be given the subject. 



THE GROUPING OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN 
WASHINGTON. 



By Paul J. Pelz, F. A. I. A. 



The problem of the grouping of public buildings in the 
national capital is of necessity intimately connected with the 
study of the public parks and reser^-ations. 

As a citizen of Washington, I have followed with great 
interest the different schemes suggested since the close of the 
civil war, and join in the general sentiment of my townsmen 
that the present system of parks is none too large and should 
not be curtailed, and that for sites of future public buildings 
new acquisitions should be made with a view of appropriate 
grouping. 

Last winter (1899-1900) a strong movement was started b}" 
the Washington Board of Trade and supported by the local 
press advocating the purchase of all that portion bounded b}- 
Seventh, North B, and Fifteenth streets and Pennsylvania ave- 
nue, which since the civil war had degenerated into a veritable 
' ' partie honteuse ' ' of our fair city, and for which there seemed 
to be no prospect of redemption by the normal progress of 
improvement, which showed a tendency away from it. Pur- 
chase by the General Government for the purpose of the loca- 
tion of the public structures needed in the near future seemed 
to be a ver}' proper solution of a most perplexing problem. 
Pennsylvania avenue has been and will alwa5'S be the most 
important street of the capital as long as the Presidential exec- 
utive ofl&ces are retained in their present location, of which 
there seems to be no doubt, even if the President w^ere to 
occupy a separate dwelling in another part of the District of 
Columbia. 

S7 



88 Improvement of the City of Washington. 

A step in this direction has already been taken by the Gov- 
ernment in the placing and erection of the City Post-Office, 
although in doing so no account was taken by those who 
directed it of any possible relations of this building to other 
future public structures in the same neighborhood. 

As a member of the Washington Board of Trade, and wishing 
to assist in giving shape and tangibility to the proposed scheme, 
I prepared a study of the possibilities of this site, which is here- 
with shown. 

It would seem, however, that to complete the problem of 
ameliorating Pennsylvania avenue, the further acquisition of 
the blocks south of it, between Seventh and Third streets, would 
likewise be necessary. The new Pennsylvania Railroad-station 
building, supposing it to be a structure of architectural merit, 
should have a free plaza to the north of it. The buildings on 
the squares east of Sixth street are anything but ornamental 
and dignified, and had better be replaced to make way for pub- 
lic structures, or be turned into plain parking with trees and 
lawn. 

Much can be said against the squalid and undignified princi- 
pal approaches to the Capitol grounds, where more room is 
needed, and where proper arches, arcades, and porticos would 
be in place to prepare for the Capitol building, which has a fine 
setting of terraces, although the design and material of the 
double flight of stairs is open to criticism. 

I would like to see the Mall extended in its full width to meet 
the lines of the Capitol grounds by extending B street, which 
should be widened to i6o feet, and by converting the blocks 
from Third to First streets into approaches and parks. The 
two B streets converted into wide avenues with central rows of 
trefes and promenades, with seats and fountains, would be an 
agreeable feature in their parallelism to the general city plan of 
streets. 

In regard to the United States Capitol, I wish to recall from 
the forgotten past a scheme for the creation of a capitoline acrop- 
olis, by the acquisition of the squares north and south of the 
great park and plaza, and the erection thereon of public buildings 
such as the growth of the country would require about the 
Capitol. 

The creation of more than fifty committee rooms in the subter- 
ranean casemates of the Capitol terraces, the purchase of the 



Iviprovement of the City of Washington. 89 

Maltby House for like purposes, etc. , shows that provisions in 
that direction for growth must be considered, and I think the 
late General Meigs was possessed of a clear vision when he made 
the suggestions. 

The Capitol and the Ivibrary are already in close relationship; 
a balance building wall soon be built to form a trine of principal 
structures. As the Capitohne hill falls rapidly to the north and 
southward from the two C streets, an acropolis effect would 
indeed be had by the creation of such a group of seven or nine 
buildings, of which the Capitol would be the dominant feature. 

As shown on my plan, the Capitol itself would be the westerly 
pronounced head, dominating the avenues leading to the princi- 
pal portion of the city, while the easterly portion would be the 
body of dependencies to the principal structure. 

The probability of the Pennsylvania Railroad occupying the 
strip of land between the two B streets. Sixth and Seventh 
streets, by a huge station building, which would not be too large 
for their business during the next fift}^ years if it occupied the 
whole area granted, is not conducive to the development of the 
Mall into a unit of design. It will bisect it, and it remains to be 
seen what the railroad authorities will give us, and then only 
can an intelligent idea be formed as to future possibilities. 

With this contingency in view I should think that the best 
way will be to leave things as they are as to present parks. 
Room may be created for more public buildings to the south- 
ward by the acquisition of the squares between B street south and 
Maryland avenue for a grand group and system of national 
museums, the present structure being too small now and cheap 
looking, including the United States Fish Commission. 

Relieved of their encumbrances, the Smithsonian and Agri- 
cultural Department could be retained in their present locations. 
The latter, of course, should be rebuilt and enlarged, but on 
account of the fall of the land to the northward, I doubt the 
propriety of creating balance buildings in that direction. 

In fact, owing to this topographical condition, which could 
only be overcome artificially at great cost, the massing of public 
buildings in the Mall on the center line due west of the Capitol 
as an axis is of very doubtful practical aspect. 

A grouping from the White House outward to the south, on 
the contrary, is highly desirable, as the slope to the river is on a. 
regular plane favoring such a disposition. 
S. Doc. 94 7 



90 Improvevient of the City cf Wasliington . 

The group now existing in the White House, with the Treas- 
ur}' and the State, War, and Nav}^ Departments building, forms 
a balance in plan, but the last structure is altogether out of 
scale with the two former ones. Both Fifteenth and Seventeenth 
streets should be widened out to give the Department buildings 
a proper setting and vista. Widening Fifteenth street would 
greatl}^ help the cit}^ traffic. 

Now as to the particular plot of which I prepared a more 
detailed study last j^ear, I will say that it appeared to me neces- 
sary to retain a number of streets north and south as a means 
of communication, in which opinion I was amply sustained b}' 
the president of the board of trade and the members of my 
particular committee, and the only proper way to my instinct as 
well as reasoning was the placing of the buildings in the general 
directions, i. e. , north and south of the city plan of streets, at 
varying distances from the avenue. An examination of the 
configuration of Pennsylvania avenue to the northward will 
show that this s^^stem prevails on 50 per cent of the avenue 
extent on the intersections of C, D, and E streets. The present 
Post-Office building, a hard fact, is placed that way. 

Two or three buildings would face the White Lot, to which 
the Corcoran Art building and one or two Government structures 
might form a balance to the westward. 

One of the Fifteenth street buildings might be an annex to 
the Treasur)' Department, containing the Treasurers' offices 
with better facilities for the keeping and shipping of public 
moneys than exist now, and other offices to relieve the present 
structure from the impending danger of defacement b)^ an attic 
story. 

The other building could be the Department of Justice, to 
relieve the Attorney- General from his dilemma. To the east- 
ward the site of the present Center Market structure might be 
occupied by hall of records. This is a most central site between 
the Capitol and all the departments, and most admirably suited 
to the purpose. 

Let the municipal building go on the site of the two squares 
between Louisiana and Pennsylvania avenues, Ninth and 
Tenth streets, taking in C street, where citizens of the Dis- 
trict can reach it from an^- where at a single fare by the two 
principal car systems which here intersect. 

A new Post-Ofhce Department should be given to the 



Improvcmcnl of the City of Washington. 91 

unfortunate Cabinet officer who had to leave one of the finest 
classical structures of the cit}- to be with his official family 
lodged in the upper lofts of the cit}' post-office. 

This building I would center on Thirteenth street. 

It does not require much imagination to see in one's mind the 
pleasing vistas and perspectives of a group of classical structures 
thus located, the onl}- disturbing element would be the uncouth 
mass of the citj' post-office, but as it is not entireh' fireproof it 
is possessed of the merit of affording Jupiter Fulminans a chance 
for much-to-be-hoped-for relief. 

In a strictl)' ultilitarian sense nothing could be better for the 
General Government than the acquisition of all the blocks south 
of Pennsylvania avenue and between the Treasury Department 
and the Capitol for public building sites, as the proposed struc- 
tures would be located on the principal thoroughfare of the cit}', 
which is the natural location for them, and therefore the most 
economical one in the long run. ^estheticall}-, Pennsylvania 
avenue would b}' this measure become a park avenue second to 
none of the great streets of European capitals. 

Whatever will be done in the near future, this is the most 
important measure to be considered and advocated by all who 
have the welfare of Washington at heart. 



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